Hidden Behind the Looking Glass
by Tama Saga
Summary: Ranma was so secure in his manhood that the possibility of becoming a girl never occurred to him. Then Jusenkyou happened and his mind snapped in half. Alternate Universe. RanmaChan tale. Nonxover.
1. Pro: The End?

_Ranma was so secure in his manhood that the remote possibility of becoming a girl never occurred to him. Then he fell into Jusenkyou._

Hidden Behind the Looking Glass  
by MingShun

* * *

Ming: Shun! C'mon! Please! Stop editing! I'm dying here!

Shun: You think I like reading the same thing again and again? Guh. Explain the double teaming that Mousse and Shampoo used to defeat Ranma in the second chapter.

Ming: Noooo!

* * *

This is a combination of ideas:

First up is _Ranma 1/2_ which belongs to the all-powerful Rumiko Takahashi. I need her characters to tell this tale. In no way do I intend to make a profit from this tale.

Next up is a story from long ago where female side had a separate identity from the male side. _Twilight Existence_ by SKJAM (Scott K. Jamison).

Then we have_ Mahoraba - Heartful Days -_ by Akira Kojima. A hilarious and unbelievable tale of MPD.

* * *

_Prologue: The beginning of the tale. Or is it the end?_

Preread by: J0Z

* * *

Beneath the overcast skies, nestled near the center of Nerima, was a small chapel. Within it, a wedding was nearing completion.

Minutes went by before the tall wooden doors finally creaked open. A small group slowly left the aged building and entered the sparsely populated streets outside.

The group was led by a regal looking auburn-haired woman with a nice kimono. Her husband walked next to her, a bandannaed gi-clad man with a stern look on his face. Following a meter behind them were the uncharacteristically calm newlyweds. The joy that could be found on most newlywed's faces was not quite there with this couple.

It had been a small wedding, so there would be no extravagant reception. In fact, no invitations had been sent out so, not surprisingly, there hadn't been anyone waiting outside when the ceremony concluded. It was going to be a surprise when the newlyweds informed everyone that they had married in secret.

The lady in front suddenly turned to the newlyweds with a steely look in her eyes. "Out of all of the candidates, I still do not understand why you chose HER as a wife."

"Dear," the bandannaed man quietly warned, however the sky chose that moment to release a shower of rain. "Paho..."

The just-married redheaded girl wasted little time in pulling out a thermos.

**~ Splash. ~**

After readjusting his clothes, the black-haired man glared defiantly down at his mother. Except she wasn't there anymore.

An arm around his shoulder was the only warning that he had.

"But the wedding was beautiful," Nodoka sniffed tearfully as she grabbed her son and his new wife in a large hug. "I expect grandchildren very soon."

Mousse Saotome, adopted several months previous, had an embarrassed look on his face from Nodoka's less than dignified act.

With one arm clutched protectively around a large bouquet of roses, and the other arm working to free herself from the extravagant display of affection, Mousse's new wife really was an odd choice. Ranma, the disowned child of the Saotome's, now had a family name again. Ironically enough, it was the one that she had lost months earlier.

* * *

Author's Corner

The warm water for the thermos was for Mousse. Yes, I was trying to mislead you.

Acknowledgements:

I liked **AscendedWarrior**'s review.


	2. Ch1: The Mix Up

_Mousse? Polite. Does his duty. To prove his devotion, he enters an uncomfortable marriage._

Hidden Behind the Looking Glass  
by MingShun 

* * *

Disclaimer at the end of chapter

* * *

Seperators:

******** - Standard Divider  
-~~~~~~- - Begin Flashback  
-xxxxxxx- - End Flashback 

_The Past _ - (Italicized Text) - Used to indicate past events. Appears mainly for flashbacks.  
The Present - Normal Text - Used to indicate present events. Appears for flashback interrupts and present happenings.

'thoughts'  
"Speech"  
**Sound FX  
**

* * *

Because this is an AU fic, you're going to get a story that's somewhat similar to the original and then things flip around in odd ways. I'm going to repeat the summary, Ranma was so secure in his manhood that becoming a girl had never occurred to him. Then he fell into Jusenkyou and **his mind split in two. ** Because AU's are almost always retold from the beginning, I'm going to start from the end and work backwards.

* * *

Arc 1: The Combining

Chapter 1a: The Present.

* * *

The Saotomes lived in their ancestral home, which was based near the edges of Nerima. Quite comfortable and homey. It definitely served its purposes as a place of residence. For a family of martial artists however, there was one major flaw with this home.

There wasn't enough room within the compound to include a Dojo.

That didn't deter the Saotomes one bit. If they didn't have one to fight in, the entire world became one.

This morning, Mousse, Ranma, and Genma were outside taking care of their morning sparring session in a manner that was loud enough to wake the neighbors. But who was brave enough to complain? Eventually, all three ended up on the roof of the Saotome ancestral home.

There they stood, frozen in place as they eyed each other suspiciously, waiting for one of the others to make a move.

That was when the sound of a window sliding open was heard. "Breakfast is ready," Nodoka called out from within the kitchen.

In the blink of an eye, Genma and Ranma were seated at the table and ready to eat.

No one quite knew how the two had entered so quickly, especially since several seconds later, the back door finally opened and Mousse entered the house. As the part-time duck took a seat, Nodoka took the opportunity to call out from the kitchen, "Ranma, I need some help carrying the food out."

"But Ma!"

"It is about time you helped out around the house, daughter-in-law. How do you expect to raise your family when Mousse is away," Nodoka sternly reprimanded.

"Yes Ma," Ranma groaned as she halfheartedly stood up.

***********

It was a silent meal, Nodoka had forbid any fighting at the table. That didn't mean she could stop Ranma and Genma from almost devouring the table as they fought to fill their stomachs with the snack-sized amount of food...that just happened to cover the entire table when fully spread out. Every single one of those hubcap sized plates were filled to the brim with rice, fish, eggs, and other good stuff.

This wasn't a light snack, it was an all-you-can-eat buffet for several warriors.

In the end, it came down to a single piece of eel. 2 pairs of chopsticks lashed out.

"I think you two have had enough for breakfast," Nodoka calmly said as she took a sip of tea. While the two froze in terror, their stomachs had no such qualms and the unseen organs took that moment to loudly protest the harsh request.

The auburn haired woman's eyebrow twitched slightly. Setting down the teacup, she raised her chopsticks. "Please control your appetites until lunch," she calmly said as she deftly reached out and plucked the eel from the plate while the other two watched in disappointment.

Mousse immediately reared back slightly when he saw the piece of eel fly toward him. It bounced right off of his plate and landed upon his robes with a splat.

"Eat up son, you are looking a bit thin," Nodoka coldly said as she gathered her bowl and chopsticks and stood up.

Mousse looked to his immediate left. Ranma had drool dribbling down her chin as she stared at the tasty morsel seated upon his person. A glance to the front revealed that Genma was staring rather intently at him as well.

"..."

The instant Nodoka disappeared into the kitchen, Mousse pulled out a bullwhip and an elementary school chair. "Stay back!" he loudly warned as he shot to his feet. He cracked the whip to emphasize his point.

Unfortunately, the eel piece stubbornly clung to him throughout all of this movement, as if it were taunting the two hungry martial artists. Their stomachs growled defiantly at him.

***********

Nodoka and her disheveled husband left soon after breakfast to visit the Tendos for the day. A dirtied and bruised Ranma happily sat upon Mousse's prone body, licking her fingers after enjoying the last morsel of breakfast.

* * *

Unlike the noisy morning, this afternoon was surprisingly peaceful. The neighbors were worried.

The back door to the Saotome residence opened with a click, and a cute redhead stepped out barefoot onto the neatly kept grass. She held a large glass of lemonade in one hand. Stuck within said glass was a tall white straw, bent at the end.

A gentle breeze pushed long strands of soft red hair into her face, tickling her nose and causing a small smile to appear on her face. She took few steps forward, before pivoting around on a foot and jumping into the air. A soundless landing marked her entrance to the the flatter part of the clay tiled roof. Looking up, she found Mousse lazily enjoying the warm sun from a flimsy-looking lawn chair that was seated upon the sloped part of the roof.

Walking up to him and pulling a small hand towel from her pocket with her free hand, Ranma bent over and carefully mopped the sweat that had gathered on her husband's brow. That done, she carelessly tossed the brownish-red cloth aside. It flew over the roof's edge and landed on the ground below.

"Y'know?" she asked, as she tried to get her husband's attention. When that didn't work, she slid his glasses from his forehead down to his eyes.

Mousse cracked an eye open, "hmm?"

"It was funny how we got together." Ranma said before she promptly sat upon her husband's stomach. Mousse let out an oomph, curling inwards from the additional weight upon the wrong part of his body.

Ranma sipped at the straw a few times before casually leaning over her husband with mischievous eyes and a lopsided grin. "Remember?"

"Of course I do," Mousse gasped before he swiped the tall glass from her small hand. "Get off." he ordered, shoving her off with his free hand. Caught off guard, Ranma bounced right off the rim of the chair with a thump. She landed on her hands and knees at the foot of the chair.

"Now then." Mousse said as he took a sip from the straw. "Are you talking about when we met, or WHEN we met?" There was an enigmatic smirk on his face when he said this.

"Does it matter?" the redhead asked as she picked herself up and glared at him.

"It does," Mousse said with a nod.

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

"_Shampoo!" he cried as he glomped onto the girl in front of him._

_Mousse's happiness faded when he noticed something __very strange about the person he was hugging. He tightened his hold on the girl. Yes, Shampoo was thinner than normal. _

_A quick sniff revealed an earthy scent that was completely unlike the clean smelling, lilac perfume that Shampoo liked to use. Pulling back, Mousse slowly moved his glasses over his eyes. "Ranma?" _

_Standing right in front of him was a redheaded girl in tattered clothing. For a homeless ragamuffin, she looked rather well-fed._

_Her face was also really red. _

"_You stupid blind duck! Geroff!" _

_He saw her foot the instant before it struck his chin with a ton of force._

_When the stars faded, he was high in the air already with no signs of falling anytime soon. _

_If it weren't for a well-timed raincloud, the Tendo Dojo would have had a new hole in the roof when Mousse finally returned to earth._

_Thank kami-sama for small blessings._

**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**

"Hahaha, I guess it does," Ranma laughed a few times with her hand behind her head. She fixed her husband with a heated glare. "You still deserved it. Now gimme."

"Of course of course," Mousse replied with a wary laugh as he offered the large cool glass to her.

Ranma seized the lemonade with a satisfied look on her face. "Okay, WHEN then." she asked as she took a seat on the edge of the lawn chair. Clamping down on the straw, she sucked out half of glass' contents in one long sip.

"Okay...from what I remember..."

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_The stream beneath the bridge was flowing quietly as a dirty redheaded girl in torn clothing finally gave a sigh before covering a nearby hole with a loose pile of dirt. She leaned over the stream to clean the blood-stained knife._

"_Ranma!"_

_She turned around to see who was calling her. A large grin suddenly appeared on her face. _

"_Mousse!" she called out as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "Hey man. You're just in time! I've finished gutting some fish that I caught and there's plenty for us both. Let's cook em!"_

_'I'm sure Ranma could find some fish to catch, but...are they safe to eat?' "Uhh, okay," Mousse hesitantly agreed._

***********

"What do you mean 'are they safe?!' Plenty safe enough!" Ranma huffed. A finger pressed against her soft lips.

"That's not important," Mousse said with a serious tone. "So then..."

***********

"_Here ya go, Mousse-man." Ranma said as she handed him one of the fish._

_After one look at the fish with a face that could only be described as the contorted look possessed by one that's being baked in the fires of hell, Mousse found that he wasn't very hungry. _

***********

"Mmf!" Ranma protested with an angry glare.

"That's what I thought it looked like, okay?" Mousse irritatedly replied as he continued pressing his finger firmly against her lips.

***********

"_Not bad," Ranma cheerfully said as she threw the bones into the fire. She looked up and blinked. "Are you going to eat that?" she asked as she pointed to the roasted but uneaten three-eyed flatfish on a stick that he was currently holding in his hand. _

_Shaking his head no, the girl greedily ripped the stick from his hands and bit down voraciously into the fish's side. _

"_So Mousse, I've been thinkin," she said with her mouth still full of food._

**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**

"And then you asked, 'why don't we marry?'" Mousse promptly burst out laughing. "No matter how hard I try, it's still the first thing that comes to mind when I need a joke!"

He felt her shift. That was all the warning he had before all laughter disappeared when something buried itself into his gut. "Uff!"

"I can't believe I had to ask you." Ranma growled as she pulled her elbow back. "And you even made me wait a day for your answer." She reared back to hit him again.

"Didn't you say it was funny how we met?" he asked as he made a warding gesture.

"I take it back, baaaka." She struck him atop the head.

But Mousse didn't feel a thing since he was lost in his own world. Tears sprung out anyway, but not from physical pain...

"Shampoo, my love. I have married this violent redheaded girl as you asked. When will you finally stop denying our love? I'll get rid of her in a heartbeat just for you." he said with heartfelt sorrow.

A sudden jerk from above returned him to the real world. When he saw Ranma's startled look, Mousse immediately knew that his private thoughts were a bit less private than he had thought.

"R-Ranma. I'm sorry," he quickly apologized when large pools of tears started to gather in the corner of her eyes. "I didn't mean-"

"Idiot! Idiot idiot!" she screamed angrily as she blindly punched the flimsy lawn chair. Tears scattered everywhere.

Angrily wiping her eyes, she glared vehemently at him. "Mousse you idiot!" she shouted as she punched the seat again. It shook violently and started to groan. The intense look in Ranma's eyes remained, "Don't say stupid things like that!" she shrieked, and, with one final strike, the fragile legs finally gave up. There was a brief moment of disorientation as the entire chair collapsed and slid a short distance down the sloped midsection of the roof. It came to a stop at the relatively flat edge of the roof.

The odd motion caused Ranma to fall forward slightly.

"Mmf!!" And that was how the two found themselves locking lips.

The surprise of the moment quickly left, and the two found themselves spitting, coughing, and hacking.

"Nooo! I was saving that kiss for Shampoo! My beloved, forgive me! I'll save the next one for you!" Mousse tearfully shouted to the heavens.

Ranma had heard enough. She stood up and walked over to the edge of the roof.

**Glomp!** "Ranma! I love you too!" Mousse hastily said, the force of his hug throwing the redhead forward. Soon her arms were windmilling wildly as she struggled to remain upright. She was going to fall off the roof of the house if Mousse didn't stop hugging her ankles.

"Lemme go before I kick your ass you loser!" she desperately threatened as she started to tilt over the edge.

Despite the tone of voice that promised a hundred years of suffering, Mousse diligently, and courageously, held on.

There was a scream.

Moments later...

"Dammit Four-eyes!" Ranma shouted at her feet as her shirt rode up slightly to reveal her stomach. She was upside down and flailing helplessly.

She wasn't in danger of falling though, a quick look above the roof revealed that Mousse had a hand firmly clasped around each of her ankles.

Swinging forward, Ranma latched onto a wall of the house and tried to pull herself away. Except Mousse was firmly grasping her ankle. And because of his greater strength, she couldn't break free.

"Lemme go Mousse!" the redhead pleaded as she pulled forward with all of her might.

Above the roof, a sadistic grin appeared on Mousse's face.

Because of him, she wasn't going anywhere. And because of her current position, she couldn't do anything to him right now...so...he began recounting what happened after Ranma made her marriage request.

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_Back under the bridge, right in front of a small cooking fire, with Ranma on the other side, Mousse had a confused expression on his face._

"_Huh?" he had dumbly asked._

_Ranma nodded and held out three fingers. _

"_Yeah! It's a great idea! See, You're a guy and I'm a girl." She ticked off a finger._

"_Uh..."_

"_I can fight better than you," she said, ticking off another finger._

_Before he could express his outrage, Ranma ticked off one last finger, "and uh...I love meat buns."_

**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**

"You know. I've seen Ryouga come up with better excuses." Mousse commented downwards.

Despite the roof preventing him from seeing more than Ranma's bare feet, he could feel her shift slightly and the tugging sensation from her escape attempts disappeared. Experience told him that there was a pout on her face and she was childishly crossing her arms. Soon after, he heard her blow a raspberry up at him.

"Well it's not like we were supposed to get along anyway," the longhaired boy with glasses mused as he started to haul up on the ankles now that Ranma wasn't holding onto the wall anymore.

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_On a random street in Nerima, remarkably devoid of bystanders..._

_Ranma! I'm going to kill you! Mousse shouted as sharp gleaming knives immediately appeared from his billowing sleeves. _

"_Che, what'd I do now?" his opponent asked as she turned to look at him but did nothing else. After months of fighting her, Mousse had learned to recognize the loosening of her stance as a sign that she was ready._

"_Shampoo wants to return to China and you're the one stopping her!" he declared before he reared back and prepared to throw the knives at his evil..._

**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**

There was a small hand covering his mouth. Ranma was crouched next to him with a bored look on her face.

"Yeah yeah, stop trying to make yourself look cool. No matter how you say it, you lost that time too. Look man, just forget about Shampoo. Then we won't have a reason to fight."

Mousse leveled a look at his bane before he slowly stood up and pulled another lawn chair from his robes. After setting it up and flouncing down upon it, he turned back to Ranma with an unamused look upon his face.

"I can think of a fight which doesn't involve Shampoo."

"Hah! Yeah right."

Mousse's answer was a sinister grin.

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_Inside of the Nekohanten, just after the lunch hour..._

_Finally, after several long shifts, he could finally sit down and eat something. It would have been better if his beloved Shampoo had made it for him but... _

***********

"Hah! See! What'd I tell you? Another Shampoo-mmf!"

Mousse had his hand clamped over her face again. "Let me finish," he said before he returned to his seat pulling her with him.

***********

_He eagerly split the chopsticks apart and looked down with drool leaking from the corner of his mouth._

_He looked up again. _

_The culprit was in front of him and searching around eagerly. A pair of wooden chopsticks, held at the ready, glistened from the soup that she had drained seconds ago._

_Ranma stopped searching to look at her seething opponent. "It's not my fault you left it out in the open for everyone to see." She commented before placing the ends of the chopsticks into her mouth. She leapt away right before a large sharp sword that, that looked very similar to the Tessaiga, cleaved the table in two._

**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**

"Because of you, I had to suffer a third day without food," Mousse tearfully moaned.

And just like that, the darkness that had been on Ranma's face, ever since she destroyed her husband's lawn chair, faded away.

"Now that I think about it...?" Ranma said, looking up at the sky with a wondering look, the yellow sun brightening her cobalt blue eyes into a nice shade of sky blue, "I did do that didn't I?!" she asked with a horrified look. She kneeled beside his seat, "I'm-" she hesitantly started.

However she didn't say anything for a long time, leaving Mousse to wonder what she was going to do next. "I'm...I'm..."

"Hmm..." Mousse made a thoughtful sound as he looked at Ranma.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" she hurriedly mumbled as she turned away.

Mousse's tears of agony suddenly disappeared.

"There's no need to apologize. What's done is done," he gracefully said as he patted her on the head. Inwardly he was cackling with glee at finally getting something long deserved.

Irritably swatting Mousse's hand away, a thoughtful look appeared on the distraught girl's face. "But something changed," the girl said in a low voice, as she looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Huh?"

"I can't understand why I would do that to you," she said. "I really can't."

"Well..."

"But I felt different one day..." she blurted out.

"You felt different? When?" Mousse asked with narrowed eyes. He had a suspicion that he needed to confirm.

A reluctant expression on her face, but after staring at him for a few moments, her eyes narrowed in determination. She looked down at the space between her knees. "It was at the Nekohanten..."

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_After bopping the red-head over the head a few times with a gnarled staff, the Old Ghoul took a look around and suggested that the mess in the restaurant be cleaned up._

_There was a chorus of agreements. Some halfhearted, others were more energetic._

_While Ryouga stood by and watched, the Amazons picked up the odd shiny things that were laying everywhere. _

_And then, all activity in the restaurant suddenly ceased._

_Ranma was humming as she wiped the haphazardly piled tables lining the walls of the restaurant with a damp cloth that she had found. She paused for a moment when she noticed that the bustle in the restaurant had disappeared._

"_What?" the pigtailed girl had asked in confusion as she looked around and saw all of the faces staring at her._

"_I fear that this may be trouble," The old ghoul finally said. "Shampoo. Prepare the ritual..."_

_Shampoo soon had a circle laid out, and numerous odd trinkets strewn about. She started to light an incense._

_The ancient mummy turned to Ranma._

"_You two," she snapped, pointing at the two boys standing behind the redhead. "Bring her here." she ordered pointing to the circle._

_Ranma suddenly felt her arms being seized by Mousse and Ryouga as they mechanically obeyed the mummy's orders._

"_H-Hey! Lemme go!" Ranma cried. Whatever was going to happen couldn't be good. She desperately struggled to stay out of the circle at all costs, even going so far as to bite one of her captors. _

_Right when she was about to break free, they threw her in. There was one brief instant where she was free and able to move. But before she could leap out of the circle, she felt her limbs lock in place. An annoying spike in her backside was telling her all that she needed to know, __The ghoul was pressing one of her pressure points with that staff of hers._

_Her vision started to cloud over..._

_Blinking rapidly, Ranma soon realized that her eyes were fine. It was the blue smoke filling the air that was responsible for the cloudy-looking surroundings._

"_Breathe deeply child," the mummy murmured. _

_She held her breath instead and continued her struggle to move even a tiny bit. Large black spots started appearing in her vision..._

**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**

"...and then I felt myself falling before the world went black." Ranma muttered. "I don't know what happened next..."

When the chair shifted, Mousse stopped rubbing his hand as a phantom pain made itself known. He quickly hid it behind his back.

Ranma had a scowl on her face as she leaned forward so their noses were almost touching. "You were there. Tell me what happened."

"Errm, that's not quite what happened," Mousse commented, "But, maybe it's for the best that you don't find out the real story," Mousse carefully said.

"Tell me!" Ranma demanded as she pushed her face into his again.

"It's not something you'd want to hear..." Mousse trailed off as he put a hand on his Ranma's shoulder and pushed her away.

"I want to hear what happened" she replied as she struggled against his hand.

"You really don't want to hear about it," Mousse insisted.

"Are you callin me a coward?" the redhead asked with an ugly look on her face.

"..."

"Tell me," she demanded. "I can take it."

Mousse let out a sigh. "Fine. I'll start from the beginning."

***********

"First there was nothing. And then the big bang happened. Many millions of years later..."

A giant universe started to appear. Beginning with a spherical center, it slowly flattened into a disklike shape as spiral arms extended outwards.

This wasn't the only universe. Nearby, several other universes were forming with varying orien-

***********

"Woah!" Mousse cried in surprise when Ranma plopped herself down upon his chest and shifted the weight of the chair to somewhere around the head. As a consequence, the two legs supporting the foot of the chair were lifted high into the air, leaving the two legs right under his back to bear the weight of two passengers. An ominous groaning noise indicated that the chair was struggling to remain together.

Moments later, the strain finally proved to be too much, and with a vicious creak, Mousse was flat on his back again. Yet another lawn chair lost to his wife.

Ranma took the repositioning of her impromptu seat in a stride as she picked that moment to say something. "I dunno what you're talkin about, but I know you're avoiding telling me what happened," she ground her rear into his chest to emphasize her displeasure.

"Hahaha," Mousse laughed nervously as he tried to push her off of him with little success. It took some time before she nimbly rolled off. He took a deep breath before he sat up. With a sigh, he sagged right over his knees.

"You're right, that is about the time when we did something that irreversibly changed you," He stared down past the roof and onto the distant lawn. "But like I said moments ago, what you're describing is not how it happened."

"It isn't?"

Mousse shook his head no before he shifted a little to make himself comfortable. Giving Ranma the real story behind the big change in her personality was going to take some time...

* * *

**Next Chapter Preview: **

"Yo, Ranma here," the redhead greeted as she held out two fingers to form a V before kicking off of the leg of her barstool and making a complete revolution.

She paused to listen to something offstage before she reared back. "W-What do you mean am I a guy or a girl? Oh jeez, THESE-these-even someone as blind as Mousse can tell that I'm a girl. Yes duckboy, I'm callin you blind. Ya gotta problem with that?"

**Next up, Ranma's Feminity. **

Jya'n

* * *

Author's Corner:

Story Notes

Don't think too hard. The idea behind the story is simple. It's just the numerous divergences from canon that make this tale so complicated.

I searched through the manga, but I found no mention of the Saotome residence existing in Juuban. In fact, I didn't find a mention of it being in Nerima either. Given this freedom of choice, I placed them on the other side of Nerima.

Yeah, Ranma and Mousse don't get along very well. It almost seemed like the marriage was doomed to begin with. I wonder how long it can last.

Odd Gender explanations: Yeesh, the gender is crazy in this chapter. It's best to just go with the flow, but if you really must know:

_Amazon's POV  
_Ranma is a girl  
Ranko is a boy

When they first met, Ranma was a girl and Ranko would appear in boy form. For the sake of sanity, the Amazons have chosen to refer to Ranma as a girl and Ranko as a boy despite their personalities indicating the opposite. The reason behind this is because Ranma is considered an Amazon and Ranko is not.

Of course when Ranma is present and awake, they will call Ranma a he or a she depending on what gender the wild horse is currently using.

_Ranma's POV  
_Ranma thinks of himself as a boy. He appears as a boy in his mind. He can be in girl form, as long as he doesn't realize that he's a girl.

_Ranko's POV  
_Ranko doesn't care much for gender. However Ranko prefers girl form. She appears as a girl inside of the mind.

Regular Notes

If you're confused about anything, feel free to ask. I understand this story well enough that I can answer without giving anything away.

Hmm...I love xovers, but that's all that's going on in Ranma these days. What's up with that?

I'll be blunt. If certain unnamed writers leave a review, I probably won't reply to them. An eye for an eye you arrogant twits. If you're not a writer though...you probably gave me a very unassuming review. One that I needed time to think up a reply. After putting it off for some time, I then forgot that I hadn't replied to you.

**Acknowledgements:**

Thank you **Izumo1489** for suggesting Cologne's nickname for Ranma.

Thank you **Heehaw** for telling me that Cologne had a formal and an informal way of addressing Ranma.

Thank you **Howard Russell** for pointing out that my ordinary dividers are not enough. In addition, italics and bold text implemented to separate different times and words because they are noticable but still readable. If this still doesn't work, I'll have to break the chapter into smaller parts.

Thank you again **Howard Russell **for that interesting term..."part-time duck." Grand!

Thanks to **Erke** for the vague review that somehow created the brainstorm that led to the odd introduction. Its purpose is to open the minds of people who enter this story.

* * *

Ming: "What's this?"  
Shun: "Pocky! You look like you have something big to write, you'll need the energy."  
Ming: "Ah. Thanks."  
Shun: "This is the disclaimer right?"  
Ming: "Yep."  
Shun: "Neither of us own Ranma and Co. They all belong to Rumiko Takahashi and we're just borrowing them."  
Ming: "Hey! I'm the writer, I should be saying that."  
Shun: "I've had enough of your weird disclaimers. Now quit procrastinating. You have a test coming up."  
Ming: "So?"  
Shun: "I'll kick your ass in Melee with Jigglypuff again if you even think of slacking off."  
Ming: "Dammit Shun! Let me play alone for once!"


	3. Ch2: Ranma's Feminity

_Ranma? Short Girl with a Wild Temper, Lots of Courage, Skill in Abundance, and a Never-Give-Up Attitude_

_Hidden Behind the Looking Glass_

by MingShun

***********

_Disclaimer at the End_

_Techniques/__**Techniques in Flashback**__  
_**Sound FX/ **_**Sound FX in Flashback  
**_Note: Techniques and Sound in flashback have no difference. It's easy to tell though.

"Dialogue"

_The Past _ - (Italicized Text) - Used to indicate past events. Appears mainly for flashbacks.  
The Present - Normal Text - Used to indicate present events. Appears for flashback interrupts and present happenings.

*********** : Standard Divider  
- ~~~~~~~~ - : Begin Flashback  
- xxxxxxxx - : End Flashback

***********

Summary!

In the previous chapter, we discovered that despite being married, Ranma and Mousse are far from happy. In addition, we discover that Ranma isn't quite the same as when she started out, since she had taken a few of Ranko's personality traits when a small group was sent into her mind to pull her out of hiding. And now presenting...

***********

Chapter 2: Ranma's Feminity

Glanced over by: J0Z  
***********

There were several crashes inside, followed by a loud female scream of rage.

The excessive noise caused Mousse to pause slightly at the door. He had just returned from the Tendo Dojo where Genma had been rigorously training him in the Saotome Ryu. At least, that's what the balding man was supposed to do. In the end, Mousse ran through katas that he already knew while the Tendo and Saotome Patriarchs drank Kasumi's freshly made tea and played Shogi.

If it weren't for Ranma, the bespectacled Amazon would still know nothing about the art that he was supposed to inherit.

Speaking of Ranma...Mousse stared wordlessly at the front door for a moment as loud crashes continued within. He finally decided to turn away.

Pulling a small cooler and an unbroken lawn chair from his sleeve, he set both down upon the front walkway before settling down and pulling the cooler door open. He removed a soda pop and pulled off the cap before shifting slightly on the seat. Once he was comfortable, he started staring up at the clouds in the sky as he waited for the chaos inside of the Saotome home to die down.

Several more crashes happened before there was a dull thump. Roofing material scattered everywhere as Happosai's small form broke through the roof and shot high into the sky.

"And stay out you stupid pervert!" Ranma's loud voice vented from the new opening in the house.

The conflict inside was over and a peaceful silence blanketed the area.

It was not to last. Minutes later, an exasperated voice pierced the fog of peace. "Agh! I don't believe this!"

There were several stomps inside before the front door flew open with such force that Mousse was almost sucked right into the house. Chair and all.

"Mousse, you're home already?" came the irritated voice.

"Yes," Mousse blandly replied without turning around.

"Well c'mon, The pervert burned my underwear again," the voice growled before he saw a small hand reach out and grab him by the sleeve. Mousse let her pull him up and take him to the clay tiled roof. Once they landed upon the top of the Saotome ancestral home, Ranma released her husband before running to the edge and leaping toward the next roof. Mousse watched her go for a moment before he gave a shrug and followed after her.

The cooler and the lawn chair sat abandoned in front of the house.

***********

Fifteen minutes later, Ranma and Mousse entered the roof entrance to one of the new department stores in Nerima.

It was a small department store, with only six floors to shop on instead of the usual ten. Because of the close packed nature of this store, it was a hassle to push their way through the busy crowd as they made their way down to the 3rd floor.

The third floor was set aside for clothing. Some noteworthy points of interest: brand name designer clothing hung on racks with this week's discounts going up to 50 percent. Glimmering jewelery contained within perfectly clear glass cases, many were 25 percent off today. The nice dresses piled high in the bins, 30 to 70 percent off.

It was a shopper's paradise!

Five minutes after entering through the roof, Ranma was in front of the cash register on the ground floor and paying for her purchases.

Ranma reached down to pick up the bags. She froze for a moment. "Hey," she quietly said, the bored look on her face disappearing as she turned her head to look suspiciously up at her patiently waiting husband. "What's with that look?"

Mousse quickly blinked. "What are you talking about Ranma?" The redhead girl gave a shrug before she turned away. That was when his eye started to twitch again.

* * *

On their way home, the two stopped in front of a large sign:

**Man among men contest.**   
_Hosted by the Housewives club._

The sign was placed in front of a small wooden stage. There was nothing particularly special about the stage. It was essentially a hollow large box with stairs hidden in the back, and visible along the sides, to allow entry to the stage without the need to struggle onto the meter high stage. It was so plain that if it weren't for the somewhat ornate red and white cloth covering, well...nothing. The stage was covered by a somewhat ornate red and white covering and that's that.

Standing upon the stage were a group of demure women dressed in kimonos of varying colors. At the head of the group was Nodoka. She was ringing a bell to draw the crowd's attention. The other members were elegantly handing out pamphlets.

A large crowd of men were gathered at the foot of the stage. They were milling around as they waited impatiently for the contest to start.

Suddenly the cheerful atmosphere changed and frantic whispers appeared from all around.

"That's not a man!" someone from the crowd shouted, stating the obvious.

"There isn't a rule preventing a woman from joining..." one of the club members replied to a curious bystander.

Frequent whispers of, "A girl? In a man among men contest?" popped up from all around.

"Hehe, you shouldn't be here girly," Said a musclebound contestant who looked like a professional wrestler. He suddenly turned away when Ranma shot him a cold look.

Nodoka finally stopped ringing the bell to look down at her daughter-in-law.

"I'm joining Ma," Ranma said from in front of the stage, using a tone that brooked no argument.

After a few moments of silence, Nodoka nodded before looking over at Mousse. "Will you be joining as well then, SON?" she challenged.

Before Mousse had a chance to say anything, the Saotome matriarch knelt down. Despite the elegance with which she pulled it off, her words were anything but pretty.

"If you don't prove your manliness," she started to say before leaning forward, "we will disown you." she whispered into his ear.

Mousse narrowed his eyes, "I'm in."

"I'm glad to hear that," the auburn haired woman said with a forced smile as she stood up and began ringing the bell again.

After several more minutes, Nodoka finally stopped. The contest was about to begin.

***********

"Greetings honorable men, women, and children. My name is Saotome Nodoka and I will be the announcer for this year's man among men contest. Every year, these contests are held to help young women find the man of their dreams. It is with this thought in mind that we are proud to host this contest in Neri-"

"Yeah yeah, get on with it already," someone interrupted.

"Ranma!" Nodoka barked, freezing the redhead in place. "There will be no fighting among yourselves unless you wish to be disqualified."

Ranma stomped her foot and made a disgruntled grunt before turning away from the rude person that dared insult her Ma. She was only going to make him apologize.

Taking a moment to compose herself, Ranma's mother held up the microphone to begin again. "Very well, I shall skip the history of the contest and announce the first event. But before we start," she paused for a moment to see that the audience were hanging on her every word, "please put out that fire that has been blazing behind me for the past two minutes."

There was a collective, "Huh?" from the crowd.

Everyone focused on the scene behind her and their eyes suddenly bugged. The electronics store behind the stage made an impressive torch. If the fire were much smaller, the heavy curtain that provided a backdrop and a roof for the stage could be blamed for shielding the fire from view.

...But that was if the fire was a lot tinier than it was now. As it stands, there was absolutely no excuse for not spotting it earlier.

Sound promptly returned as shouts began ringing from all over. The confusion made the assembled crowd slow to react. One woman's voice finally appeared above the rest, "My baby! Save my baby!"

"Where is your baby ma'am?" a random passerby asked.

The woman pointed toward the burning store. "In that building!" she frantically responded.

Several of the nearby bystanders shouted their refusal to move when they heard this.

Ranma was less inhibited. Covering her mouth and nose, she dashed straight into the burning building.

Several men, some were contestants, shouted in surprise before they ran in as well, chasing after the cute girl who was throwing her life away.

Mousse watched them go with a bored look on his face. Minutes later, he sensed someone approaching from the side. Turning, he saw who it was. Nodoka. He turned back to the burning building.

The Saotome matriarch bent forward slightly to look into her adopted son's eye. "Aren't you going to do anything to help your wife?" she curiously asked.

"Ranma'll handle it," Mousse replied without turning away from the flame-riddled structure.

A somewhat evil grin flitted across her face. "Very well then," she replied as she walked away. Mousse hadn't missed that brief flicker, she was plotting something again.

A loud wailing was soon heard in the distance, signaling that the fire fighting department was going to arrive any minute now. There was still no sign of Ranma however. She had been in there for too long. But Mousse wasn't worried yet...

...and then the front of the building collapsed.

"Ranma!" Mousse shouted. Now he was worried. Had he made a mistake? He waited a few more instants, growing increasingly edgy as time wore on. Right before he decided to charge in and look around, he felt a slight tap upon his shoulder.

Mousse turned around. "Miss me?" Ranma asked with a mischievous smirk on her face. There was a puppy in her arms.

"..." The irritation that rose up quickly squelched any sort of happiness and relief that he should have been feeling. "Ran-"

"My baby! Thank you for saving him!" the terrified woman from earlier cried happily as she took the trembling animal from Ranma's hands.

"What happened to the others?" one of the contestants asked.

"What're you talkin about?" Ranma asked as she turned to him in surprise.

"Several people ran in after you. What happened to them?" A man in a white tuxedo clarified.

"...oh," Ranma said, shock replacing her surprise. A sheepish look appeared on her face as she placed her her hand behind her head and laughing nervously, "Uhh...they're in back. I sorta beat em up and threw em into a dumpster cause I thought they were there to cop a feel. That's why it took so long for me to return."

"..." That was...unexpected.

"Because you have performed an exceptional service, we shall overlook this travesty just this once. Please return the contestants now, the contest is about to start," Nodoka finally said.

Ranma shot off.

-o-o-(In Back of the Burning Electronics Store)-o-o-

"Wait, you can't leave us here!"

"I only haveta return the contestants, climb out yourself!" Ranma retorted as she turned and walked off with the other contestants in tow. Literally. She had tied them up using a spare rope that she had found nearby.

"We won't forget this!" someone threatened from within the dumpster.

"Yeah yeah, I look forward to seein ya again too," the redhead dismissively said as she rounded the corner and disappeared from view.

***********

After the brave and somewhat lucky contestants were recovered and untied, the brave but unlucky bystanders were left groaning in the bin, and the oddly stealthy fire was put out, Nodoka stepped up to the podium again.

"It is with great pleasure that I announce that the first contest just happened to be a test of courage. As such, my daughter-in-law as well as those men that bravely followed her into the fire will be given 10's. The rest of the contestants will be granted a zero. Now we begin the sec-"

"What?" someone in the surprised crowd asked.

"Now wait just a minute," an angry contestant demanded.

"We didn't know that that was part of the contest!" another contestant shouted.

"It was indeed an unexpected test," Nodoka conceded after conferring with the rest of her group. "Very well then, for those who have been given a zero...perform an act of courage and we shall judge you."

After the fire incident, there really wasn't an act that could compare. In fact, one contestant even tried to recreate a fire with a cigarette lighter and a gallon of lighter fluid. No one moved. Nor did they take responsibility for his sudden flight into LEO or the large explosion that lit up the sky seconds later.

It was finally Mousse's turn.

Stepping forward, Mousse regarded his mother with a level look.

"Well son, your score is still 0. What will you do to bring it up?"

"I don't know," the boy with coke bottle glasses honestly replied.

"Very well then," Nodoka said as she moved to record a score on the clipboard in her hands. The twitch of a smile upon her face indicated that it wasn't going to be very high.

Sensing movement to his side, Mousse quickly held out a hand to tell Ranma to stop.

"Zero," Nodoka said without looking up.

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"It is indeed impressive that you have the courage to feel up a woman in public, however as a contestant, Your wife is currently considered a man," Nodoka explained in a no-nonsense tone.

Mousse turned to Ranma. Yes, his hand was indeed pressed against her ample bosom. There was an uncomfortable look on her face and if her shaking were any indication, Nodoka's ban on fighting between contestants was the only thing saving him from mortal peril.

"Mousse..." she menacingly said. "Remove that hand now or-"

"Where on earth am I now!" Ryouga shouted into the sky before he started to scan his surroundings with an intense look in his eyes. The serious look quickly disappeared, replaced by one of shock. Seconds later, "Erk!" blood spewed out from his nose and he passed out from seeing the suggestive scene in front of him.

"Some man..." Mousse muttered. A small sweatdrop appeared on the side of his head and his eyebrow shook in irritation. He pulled his hand away.

***********

After the last contestant walked away with a downcast expression, Nodoka turned to address the crowd. "And with that, the first round has finally been concluded." She paused for a moment to consult with the other club members before announcing, "a manly man possesses not just an insurmountable amount of courage, he can also capture the hearts of women everywhere. In the second contest, each participant will be brought forward and judged on how well they charm the crowd."

The contest began.

While the other contestants watched as some of their number were either completely ignored, dogpiled by frogs, or trampled by overeager women, Mousse was lost in his own world.

_I received a zero in the last contest. This is bad. I must win this contest otherwise I will lose the Saotome name that Shampoo adores so much. Hmm, I might be able to sneak over to the clipboard and change the score...no, it's still too early for that. The demon woman would notice and I'd be disqualified..._

Nothing else came to mind however, except...

_..I see, I have no choice. I have to use...that. _

He subtly glanced down at a pink heart-shaped bottle in his hand.

_I'll need to make sure that there is enough left over to use on Shampoo later._

"Saotome Mousse," Nodoka announced through the mike.

_Now's my chance._

Walking on stage Mousse turned to face the crowd. He promptly uncorked the bottle and poured half of its contents right over himself.

Nothing happened for the longest of moments.

Right before Nodoka could give him another zero, Mousse was promptly bowled over by a red blur. Once the two stopped skidding on the floor, Ranma gave a happy mew as she rubbed suggestively against him. Several of the housewives soon jumped upon the two.

It was a prelude to something bigger:

A nearby water puddle soon started to ripple near continuously as many feet soon started marching toward the stage.

A few of the contestants soon found themselves on the ground, having been shoved off of the steps leading to the stage as the mindless body continued its relentless advance.

Seconds later, Ryouga started hollering in pain and agony as he was brutally trampled. He wasn't the only one. Those weenies unfortunate enough to be in the way were pushed over and promptly stepped upon as well.

It was an army of drooling women, and they were relentlessly advancing upon Mousse's with very adult intentions in their eyes.

An arms length away, the vanguard froze in place.

There was a sniffle. And then...

**Chu! **Ranma let out a cute sneeze. Totally unmanly sounding. That didn't bother her one bit however, because she seemed to be preparing to sneeze again.

**Ah-ah-ahchoo!** That sneeze was from a woman standing right over Mousse.

**Pfft!** That was an old hag at the bottom of the stage. And then whatever it was, it grew at a horrifying rate.

**Achoo! Choo! Pfft! Cough cough. **Every women around him was soon sneezing at a near continuous rate. The epidemic continued to spread as women standing farther away started sneezing as well.

Worried, Mousse managed to work his arm and head free to read the label on the bottle.

**Superpowerful Ancient Wild Blossom Love Potion  
**_Guaranteed to work  
Just douse self and enter room._

_Warning: Do not use when more than one woman is present. Close proximity will induce a mild allergy. Effects will clear up within a few minutes, but those affected will be immune to this love potion afterwards.._

Soon the sneezing epidemic died down and the crowd of women looked around dazedly. They slowly exited stage left and stage right as they headed back to the bystander area.

Of course the men weren't affected. Nor some of the women that stood at the outer edges of the scene. When asked what happened, they gave a brief overview of what they saw. Word quickly spread about what just happened and once they realized that Mousse had used something inexcusable to accomplish his feat, he became the target of looks of derision and scorn.

Mousse's score was a 5. The explanation? His means of accomplishing the task was not commendable, but there was little doubt that he had managed to pull the entire female crowd within a 15 meter radius.

***********

"We have now entered the next event. After seeing their courage and charm, it is now time to present our contestants with a difficult challenge. A manly man must show a sense of duty. Contestants, please show us your sense of duty."

The short straw. Mousse was first up. A brunette with her hair in a ponytail suddenly pushed her way to the front of the volunteers. "Apologize!" she demanded.

Several angry echoes followed. Nodoka gave her son a chilly gaze.

Left with no choice, and seeing this as a chance to carry out his duty, Mousse did as he was told. "I am terribly sorry for the mishap." he said with a formal bow.

Of course that wasn't enough! If it was, World Peace would be an old thing by now.

So after a moment of stunned silence the angry girl immediately shouted...

"Well, alright. I guess we can forgive you."

"..." the author made the crowd speechless with shock before initiating Plan B.

A random girl pushed her way to the front of the crowd. "Hey! Strip him naked and hang him on a flagpole before you accept an apology!"

There was a chorus of agreement from many of the females in the crowd, some guys cheered as well.

"Alright alright, sheesh. Make me the bad guy why don't you?" the brown haired girl with a ponytail grumbled before she turned back to Mousse. She took a deep breath. "Look, I don't have anything against you, but you've done a bad thing so I have to punish you." With that, she reared back to punch Mousse in the face.

Mousse just stood there with a calm look on his face. There was no trace of fear or regret.

**Bap**. "Hey hey, that's enough. He apologized didn't he?" Ranma asked as she held the brunette's arm in a firm grip.

"Who are you? Why are you stopping me?" the girl with the ponytail demanded.

"Ranma Saotome," Ranma proudly replied. "I'm-"

"Sister or wife?" The brunette demanded.

"Sister?" Ranma asked curiously.

"Che, should've known that family would defend him."

"What?" Ranma protested. She wasn't defending anyone.

"It doesn't matter. Listen up sister of the perverted bastard, I don't know what's going on in your household but whatever is alright with you is not alright with us," the brown haired girl said as she jabbed the redhead in the shoulder.

"Yeah!" a girl from the crowd cheered. Several other girls cheered with her.

"You tell her!" another girl shouted.

"Step aside and let her administer justice!" demanded a third voice. The clamoring grew louder.

Despite the opposition, Ranma stood firm. "No. If anyone should be hittin him, it should be me." she said with a serious look on her face.

"Then why aren't you beating him up?" the brunette demanded.

"I can't. I'll be disqualified."

"Forget the rules and beat him up. Our honor is at stake!"

"I'll do it later then," Ranma promised.

"Hey..." Mousse tried to interrupt.

"Shut up! We'll kill you in a minute," the brunette shouted before she rounded angrily on the redhead. "Why didn't you shout that with me?"

"Why would I want to kill him?" Ranma asked, a curious look on her face.

"Because you promised!" the brunette shouted at what was obviously a ditsy girl.

"Ranma did no such thing," Mousse said aloud.

"Shut up," came a large collective shout from the crowd.

"She did!" someone from the crowd immediately shouted afterwards.

"I did?" Ranma finally managed to ask.

Seeing the redhead's indecision, the brunette with the ponytail let out an angry grunt before stepping forward and taking a swing.

Ranma intercepted the punch again and the crowd quieted as the drama increased. "I told you already, that's enough," she said as her pigtail stood out warningly, like a cat's tail when threatened.

"It's not!" the brown-haired girl and the crowd angrily shouted together.

"It is," Ranma replied without backing away.

"Rrrgh." It was obvious that she couldn't get past the redhead. So the best that she could do was talk. But what could she say?

"What's she doing in a man-among-men contest anyway?" a random girl in the crowd loudly whispered to her friend. The brunette immediately turned away from the crowd to look accusingly at Ranma.

"I don't get it," the girl with the ponytail hyperventilated. "You shouldn't even be in this contest anyway. Why are you so afraid of dropping out?"

"Hey! I'm not afraid!" Ranma angrily said as a vein throbbed on her forehead.

A crafty look appeared on the brown-haired girl's face. "Oh, I get it, you're afraid you're not WOMAN enough so you have to prove that you're a MAN."

Several more veins popped out on her forehead, "Eh?" Ranma said with a large shaky grin on her face before she thrust her chest forward, "Guess again! With these I'm even more womanly than you are."

The brunette's ponytail shot straight out in shock before a vein started pulsing on her forehead as she crossed her arms over her chest. "So?" she asked with a strained voice.

"If I can join this contest, it'd be easy for you to join." Ranma said with a shrug.

Several more veins started throbbing on the brunette's forehead. "Say that again?"

"I'm saying that next to these wimpy guys, you'd take first place."

**@BOOM!@**

"I'm sorry if I'm too manly," the brunette growled as she pulled her hammer out from the new indent in the stage. It was actually a new hole, but the cloth covering the stage hid that fact.

"What, hey, calm down," Ranma quickly said as she took a few steps back. Several contestants still on-stage nervously shifted out of the way of the ensuing catfight.

"Is it manly to run away like that?" the brown haired girl demanded as she heaved the hammer back over her shoulder.

**Poik.** yet another vein popped out. "It's not that," Ranma shot back. "I just don't hit girls."

"Oh, so I'm a girl now?" The brunette said as she paused for a moment.

Taking this as a good sign, Ranma opened her mouth again. "Yeah! You're built better than the tomboy," she paused before adding, "but your hips are still too thick." she suddenly leaned forward a little. "And now that I think about it, you look just as macho too." She sighed, "Why can't more girls be like me?"

%- **Fwee!** -%

"Die!" the brown haired girl shouted as steam continuously poured from her ears and her ponytail flapped wildly up and down without any influence from the wind.

"Nyaa! Can't hit-" Ranma started to say.

Ranma's opponent charged forward.

There was a brief cry. Then a loud thud.

Ranma stared at her opponent who was now sprawled on the ground in an unsightly manner. Her eyes moved slightly to the left a little where they stopped and stared for several moments. She finally shrugged. It was Ryouga. Of course he'd be too thickheaded to notice that someone had just tripped over him.

Ryouga took that moment to stop crouching and stand up. Ranma immediately burst out laughing. Shoemarks covered his face! On closer look, they covered the front of his shirt and pants as well. How did it happen?

Ryouga obviously noticed them as well, since he stopped examining his arms and frontside to say, "What the hell?" He looked up to see who was laughing. "H-How dare you make a fool out of me! Ranma! Prepare to dieeeee!"

"Eep! Stop pigboy!" Ranma quickly said before she ducked. The incoming fist passed harmlessly over her head. She counterattacked.

One thing led to another and seconds later there was a loud...

**- Rip. -**

Ranma stood frozen in her spot as she stared stupidly down at the torn yellow muscle shirt in her hands.

"Oh wow!" Many of the girls in the crowd lost their hostile looks as hearts appeared in their eyes at seeing Ryouga's muscular torso.

"Dammit Ranma!" A flustered bandannaed boy said before he ripped the muscle shirt from Ranma's grasp and struggled to put it on in a decent manner.

Failing that, he threw the shirt aside, "Go to hell Ranma!" he cried before he charged forward.

The girls in the crowd went wild.

Nodoka frowned as she marked down a 10. Ranma had managed to save her husband as well as please the entire crowd of women in one fell swoop. An impressive way to show duty.

For Mousse, his score was less phenomenal, a 5 for his apology.

***********

"Watch it! You could hurt someone with that pigboy!" Ranma shouted as she twirled around and avoided the tip as the heavy umbrella stabbed forward.

"Dammit Ranma, stand still and take this hit like a man!" Ryouga shouted as he threw his umbrella aside and lunged forward. There was a loud splintering sound as the umbrella promptly made a new hole in the hollow stage.

"Pfft! Even if I stood in one spot, you'd still move too slow to hit me!" The pigtailed martial artist taunted before she leapt up and then used Ryouga's head like a springboard. Ryouga was sent stumbling forward.

Someone in the crowd motioned for one of the proctors. Nodoka stepped up to him.

"Shouldn't you disqualify her for fighting?" the bystander asked.

"I'm afraid that the boy that she is fighting is not a contestant." Nodoka replied with a bow before she returned to the stage. The crowd gasped moments later when she calmly walked right into the middle of the stage, the center of the battlefield.

They had nothing to worry about. The instant she took center-stage, she leveled a stern look at the two troublemakers.

Ranma and Ryouga immediately froze in midmove. Ryouga had Ranma by the collar and hauled high in the air, a fist cocked back to strike with a powerful blow. For her part, Ranma had a foot in Ryouga's face and another foot above his head and ready to deliver a heel drop. They stopped staring into the cold eyes of the Saotome matriarch to look at each other. With a collective nod of agreement, Ryouga quickly ran toward the back of the stage. There was a shout as Ranma was thrown downwards, and then the fight resumed.

Now that her area was clear of distractions, Nodoka raised the microphone to her lips. She was ready to announce the fourth contest. There would be one more contest after the fourth before the members of the housewives club could tally the totals and announce the winner of the man among men contest.

"A man among men has the ability to instill fear and awe into his opponent. In order to assess this, we request that the participants show that they can fight. Points will be given for how well they perform, however, unconscious contestants will be disqualified." A sudden explosion from behind punctuated her statement. Nodoka stood there calmly as her hair was ruffled wildly by the aftereffects of the blast.

"I thought you said that there would be no fighting between contestants!" someone complained, obviously fearful of the scene happening behind Ranma's mother.

"This is different," Nodoka replied with a sharp look in her eyes. The one who complained immediately felt as if cold steel had skewered him. He fainted.

"Yeah! Let's start!" Ranma suddenly said from off to the side. She looked a bit worse for wear as she stood over Ryouga's crispy form. But there was a large grin on her face indicating that she couldn't wait for this part of this contest to begin.

Right then and there, several of the contestants dove right off of the stage. Several protests lit up from the crowd. Mainly girls asking their cowardly boyfriends to stay and defend their honor despite the possibility of losing their boyfriend to a female demon in the process.

With so many contestants having forfeited before this round even began, there weren't many left. When the matchups were randomly selected, several of the remaining members gave a sigh of relief. The first to fight turned out to be Ranma against her husband.

Mousse and Ranma walked to stage center where they stared at each other for a long moment. Ranma grinned and cracked her knuckles.

"Mousse, you've never beaten me before, what makes you think you'll win now?" she gloated.

Mousse wasn't going to lie down and die however. "Forfeit now Ranma." He said as he clutched several bladed weapons in his hand.

"Against you? Nope, not gonna," she said as she shifted into a defensive stance.

"Are the contestants ready?" Nodoka asked. The two turned to her and nodded "Then, Hajime!" the coppery haired woman said with a downward chop.

Mousse's bladed weapons went flying immediately. The instant they struck the ground, they buried themselves right into the stage. A few more contestants left, gibbering in terror. Those weren't stage props, they were real weapons. What if the fifth contest was a battle royale?

The stage itself was just barely holding itself together. After a fight between Ryouga and Ranma, and now a fight between Mousse and Ranma, it wouldn't be long before it fell apart. It was a grave oversight of the club members to assume that the combatants didn't have the ability to cause damage on a large scale when they created this test.

Which was why after the stage collapsed, and the housewives were saved by men of sterner stuff, the fight continued on the sidewalk. The bystanders hurried out of the way when it was obvious that the fighters needed far more room.

Sharp weapons and odd objects flew around indiscriminately.

Ranma gracefully backflipped out of the way of a ringing telephone. "Mousse, man, yer not even trying." She said in a dissappointed voice.

Her bespectacled husband stopped throwing things. "Then why don't we have a bet, Ranma?"

"A bet huh? What sorta bet?" she asked warily.

"The winner of this fight gets something from the loser."

"Can I ask for you to stop thinking about Shampoo?"

Mousse nodded, "yes."

A happy grin appeared on the redhead's face. "Then that's what I want! What do you want man?"

"I want out."

"Huh?" his pigtailed opponent intelligently replied.

"I want out of this marriage," Mousse repeated, staring at his redheaded opponent with a cold look in his eyes.

Ranma took a step back. "Mousse," she whispered as if it had all become clear to her now. She looked down sadly for a moment before she raised her head and glared at him. "I ain't gonna lose to ya."

She reached forward. Mousse reached forward. Their hands clasped together and the two shook to seal the deal among a crowd of witnesses. The two suddenly leapt back, new determination burning around them. It was so strong that an aura of blue surrounded the both of them.

Mousse started off by throwing a multitude of knives and daggers.

Ranma quickly plucked them from the air at Amaguriken-like speeds before throwing them back.

Except Mousse was holding a giant horseshoe magnet, one and a half times taller than him, upright with both of his hand. The steel weapons soon started tumbling uncontrollably once they entered an invisible boundary. They started to collected on the two ends of the magnet.

They weren't the only thing affected by the magnet. A nearby lampost was shaking wildly as it struggled to fight off the magnet's powerful pull. It finally gave up and allowed itself to be ripped from the ground.

***Clong!***

Ranma slowly picked herself off the ground and rubbed the growing lump on the back of her head. She saw Mousse busily hiding the lampost in his sleeves at the time.

Seeing his opponent getting up, Mousse pulled more weapons from his sleeve and threw them. With a growl, Ranma surged into a hail of chained weapons and empty opened canned food tins that still had their lids attached.

Mousse soon stopped throwing weapons. She was too close. Pulling out a chinese broadsword, he stabbed at the redhead. He missed.

Pulling his blade back, his eyes widened when he found Ranma standing calmly upon its edge. He mentally cursed himself for not sharpening the weapon recently as he immediately leaned back to avoid a kick to the head. Her foot barely missed his nose. Dropping the broadsword, he immediately pulled out a monstrous roman circular shield and ducked beneath it.

There was a clang, indicating that Ranma had just punched the iron surface, there was no dent. Shaking her hand, she quickly hopped into the air...

**~ Clang! ~**

...before slamming her full weight upon the shield to crush the one beneath.

_Keiran Ken!_

Ranma looked to the source of the shout in surprise. Mousse was standing to her side, with an arm extended in the final motions of a throw. A clutch of eggs were flying toward her.

Ranma had no time to wonder what was beneath the shield, or how Mousse had managed to sneak out without anyone noticing. She just crossed her arms over her face.

The chicken nestled securely under Mousse's other arm let out a short 'Pucaw!'

**@ Boom! @ **

Those exploding eggs packed quite a punch.

Several coughs were heard from within the cloud of smoke. When it cleared, Ranma's clothing was badly tattered and she was just short of being called indecent. "That's it, I'm done playing now," she angrily announced.

"So have I," Mousse replied as he wrapped a hand around the plump chicken's torso. Sensing his intent, the poultry struggled to escape. It failed. With a final pucaw, it disappeared back in his sleeve. Mousse soon pulled out several daggers right when Ranma charged forward. Without wasting a moment, he threw the entire bunch at once.

Ranma immediately slid to a stop.

"Uhh...Mousse, I'm right here, man," The redhead commented as the daggers fell short. Really short. So short that it almost seemed like Mousse mistook the ground in front of him for her. But he couldn't possibly be that blind. He had his glasses on right now.

"Haha, oops" Mousse laughed as a sweatdrop appeared and he put his hand behind his head to mimic Ranma's favorite embarrassed expression.

It was an act! An evil grin appeared on his face as he pulled his hand from behind his head and launched another variety of weapons in the same motion. Sneaky! Hiding his sleeves from view so that he could take out another bunch of weaponry without his opponent knowing.

The surprise on her face quickly disappeared as Ranma immediately burst into motion. Nimbly avoiding a bowling ball from within the new wave of weapons, she closed the distance between the two of them with such speed that Mousse immediately stopped throwing weapons to fall back. Landing safely a few meters from his original spot, he snapped his fingers.

Those daggers that he had thrown at the ground earlier, they exploded with such terrific intensity that dust and dirt shot into the air once again, greatly reducing visibilty.

A stray gust chose that moment to blow some of the debris away, revealing Ranma standing directly in front of Mousse, leaning forward with a single finger tapping his forehead.

She removed her finger and straightened up. "Man, if your aim and timing is this bad, I should blindfold myself and tie my arms behind my back just to make this fair," Ranma said as she cracked her knuckles menacingly.

It boiled down to close combat again, a theatre of combat that Mousse preferred to avoid. But he wasn't scared. In fact, instead of pulling out a weapon, he was just standing there with a stupid grin on his face.

Ranma watched Mousse's casual actions with confusion. What was his game? Maybe he gave up already? But he wouldn't be smiling. Suspicious, she took a step back, only to step on something soft.

An unearthly yowl of pain filled the area, freezing the pigtailed girl in place. Her pigtail stood on end as she fearfully turned to see what she stepped on. She immediately leapt several meters back to avoid the angry slash.

The angry cat pulled its mangled tail away before letting out another cry. Soon after, there was a cacophony of answering calls, and the dust and smoke finally chose that moment to dissipate. A small group of cats were revealed. They looked menacing, with their glowing red eyes and extremely sharp looking fangs and claws. At least in Ranma's mind.

"C-c-c-Aieeeeee!" Shrieking in terror, Ranma immediately turned and ran past her husband.

There was a giant crash.

Nerima walls have been made with rather sturdy material lately. To cut down on the repair cost. In other words, there wasn't even a dent in the wall while the redhead had a bump on her forehead the size of chicken egg. She fell over with an ungraceful plop.

It's been said that animals can smell fear. The group of cats that came from the smoke clouds were no exception. In moments, they had the pigtailed girl surrounded. Then they slowly padded forward meowing tauntingly.

At the first meow, Ranma was on her feet and scrabbling for an escape route. On the third meow, she was blindly trying to climb the wall behind her. A few more seconds and her sanity would slip.

The large ball of yarn now in Mousse's hand revealed that he had anticipated this. He promptly rolled it past the cats and into the alleyway. The cats turned away from the redhead when the large object passed them. Howling in glee, they immediately bounded after the giant cat toy.

In moments, their voices disappeared.

With the cats gone, Ranma's legs gave out from under her. "I lost," she whispered.

"Ranma?" This wasn't quite how Mousse was expecting his Ranma to react. She was supposed to accuse him of cheating before demanding a rematch. Then he could tell her that she was being dishonorable. A claim that she couldn't dispute since the entire crowd witnessed the agreement. It was an instant win.

The girl in question slowly stood up, her bangs shadowing her face. Hugging herself tightly, she took a tentative step toward her husband. Then another. And another. And then she passed him and dashed off, a small choked sob sounding moments before she ran straight into a wall. Picking herself up, she blindly stumbled out of the alleyway.

Mousse slowly bent down. Reaching out, he felt a small spot on the ground. It was wet, Ranma was crying.

"Ranma!" Mousse shouted as he ran out of the alley.

Where was the large cat-ate-the-canary grin? He should be happy that the marriage was over. What was Mousse up to?

* * *

He found her in her favorite hiding place, the spot beneath the bridge. Her hair seemed a lot duller than it normally was, almost blackish, and her body shook heavily as sobs and hiccups wracked her small frame. In short she looked piteous.

Mousse slowly walked over and took a seat next to her. The two sat in silence for some time as Ranma struggled to stop crying now that someone was there to watch.

"I really wanted this marriage to work," she finally said as she tightened her arms around her knees. "But I guess it wasn't gonna happen," she laughed bitterly.

Silence descended on the two once again.

"Why do you want this marriage so much anyway?" Mousse finally asked.

"I dunno," she quietly said as she traced a path in the dirt. "I guess I just hate failin' at something."

Mousse shook his head. "No, why did you pick me in the first place?"

Ranma stared silently at the ground for a moment. "I like you Mousse," she said, looking up and giving him a weak smile.

He had no clue why, but he found himself smiling with her.

"I like you as much as I like Ryouga," she continued.

The smile on his face dropped like a rock.

"We're friends. We've been through lots together. And we'll go through even more adventures together," Ranma said with a distant look in her eyes.

"But ya wanna know why I picked ya and not Ryouga?" she asked as a determined look appeared on her face.

Mousse nodded.

"You showed up first. And now that I think about it, I wouldn't want P-chan for a husband. Sure he's great for a fight, but ya can't depend on him cause he's always lost."

She looked back down with a dark look on her face. "But why?" she lamented, "Why can't I make you as happy as Shampoo? What does she have that I don't? Is it because she's prettier or somethin? Maybe it's cause she acts more like a girl. Dammit, it's not fair! If it weren't for pops..." she cried in anguish before she shrunk back into herself. "Whatever, it doesn't matter anymore cause it's over."

"Ranma..." Mousse found himself saying.

She looked at him, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"...Why don't we call it a draw? That way neither of us win," Mousse finally said.

"No," she said with a shaky laugh. "You won fair and square. I'm not gonna complain." She curled into a tighter ball after she said this.

"You do know that if we put Ryouga next to you right now, he'd look like a happy fool, right?"

"So? I lost! I'm allowed ta feel this way. You deserve better anyway," she bitterly said.

"So you've given up?" Mousse angrily asked. Seeing Ranma like this was getting on his nerves.

"Yes..." the redhead listlessly replied.

Mousse suddenly stood up.

**Thwack!**

"Fist of the White Swan," Mousse casually said as Ranma pulled her head from the ground. He made no attempt to hide the duck shaped training potty in his hand.

Ranma stared at the offending item for a moment before she started laughing. "Hahaha, I'm that pitiful aren't I? You can't even bear ta hit me normally so you use the trainin potty. Hahaha." she froze up before she hung her head. "Damn." she cursed bitterly.

Mousse gave a sigh before he hid the training potty away and reached forward, "C'mon, get up."

His wife stopped laughing and angrily slapped his hand away. "Don't want your pity."

Mousse tried reaching forward again. This time the redhead jumped to her feet, knocking his hand out of the way with her shoulder. "There, happy now?"

Mousse shook his head no as he looked at his wife with a critical eye. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine!"

The bespectacled boy looked skeptical. "Are you sure about that?"

"Stop treatin me like a little girl! I say that I'm fine so I'm fine!" she angrily sputtered.

"Ranma..."

"Mousse, how do we break our marriage?" she interrupted.

The change in subject threw him off slightly. "Huh?"

"Let's just get it over and done with," she said as she started to stomp off. A large hand suddenly clasped her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

"If it's bothering you this much, you don't have to do this Ranma," Mousse said.

"Are you questioning my honor?" Ranma angrily demanded.

"N-Yes. Yes I am."

"That's" she sputtered, "that's it! I'm gonna beatcha down for that."

"And?"

"What do you mean 'And'?! I'm gonna beatcha down and that's that!"

"So you don't want anything?"

"Well, I want the marriage to continue,"

"Then we'll fight for that."

"Yeah?" Ranma asked with surprise.

Mousse nodded.

"Yeah. Alright. Let's do that." Ranma said as energy seemed to return to her as she planted a fist into her palm.

"Wait. Hold on." Mousse said, holding out a hand to tell Ranma to stop just as she was about to rush forward.

Ranma screeched to a halt. "Huh?"

"What will I get if I win?" The occasional duck demanded.

"You won't win." Ranma cockily replied as she pressed her thumb on her nose before flicking it forward.

"..." Mousse had an accusing look on his face. The terms currently weren't fair.

The energy that Ranma had gained moments earlier faded away. "Fine...the marriage is broken anyway. I-I'll help you capture Shampoo's heart." she quietly said.

Mousse liked that. "Deal!" he shouted as he reached out to shake his wife's hand. Ranma reached forward as well, an unsure look on her face.. Their hands clasped together and then...

**Clink!**

"What?!" Ranma shouted when she found herself tightly bound in chains. So tightly that she couldn't move her arms or legs. "Mousse!" she angrily shouted as she struggled to move. She lost her balance and fell over. "Dammit!"

"Heh, you lose Ranma." Mousse said with his back facing her. He had to be aiming for a cool look because a brilliant red sun suddenly rose from behind his caped form while cherubs danced all around.

Ranma's shout of "Fat chance!" cut right through the illusion. Moments later, Mousse felt his feet leave the ground when Ranma rammed him with her shoulder. The two tumbled to the ground together. Before Mousse could recover and push the girl off, Ranma was somehow standing on his back. She soon started doing a credible impression of a jumping earthworm.

"Get these offa me," she growled as she slammed both feet into his back when she came down once again. Instead of replying, Mousse merely curled inwards everytime she landed, a pained look contorting his face.

* * *

By the time the two returned to the scene of the contest, it was already packed up and gone. The stage, now lacking the cloth cover, showed no trace of the battle damage that had taken it apart. Nerima construction was as efficient as ever.

Without anything to do, Ranma pulled her most recent purchases out from behind a sign before she picked up an end of the chain and started dragging her bound and gagged husband home.

* * *

_She speaks roughly. Her manners are shoddy. Happosai burns her underwear. She joins a man among men contest and she doesn't hesitate to throw a punch._

"Someone's thinking something irritatin about me," Ranma said, a tick mark appearing on her forehead again. "It's you isn't it?" she accused.

There was a muffled reply.

Ranma immediately ripped off the gag. "Of course not," her heavily battered husband repeated in a much louder and clearer voice. He said this with such a straight face that he was most likely lying.

"Oh," Ranma said as she turned away without a second thought. She promptly forgot the matter...

...as well as the fact that her husband currently couldn't move.

"Hello?" Mousse called out as he laid upon his side in the middle of the street, tightly bound by his own chains.

***********

It wasn't until they were nearing home when a semi-recovered Mousse finally had the audacity to ask, "Ranma, are you a guy or a girl?" He distantly noted that the cooler was still there but his lawn chair was gone.

"Whaddya mean? Do I act that much like a guy?" Ranma demanded as she turned around, the keys in her hands were momentarily forgotten. It was a typical reply, but it left Mousse wondering whether Ranma had even heard the 'girl' part.

However he wasn't going to ask whether she was shooting her mouth off again or it was a gender identity issue. Instead, "No no, it's just that back then..." he hastily said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Nerima didn't just contain houses, it also had apartments as well. Ranma was on the ground for once and dashing through a long row of them when she heard a clink. She immediately stopped and hopped to the side right when several weapons landed all around her._

"_Ranma!" _

_The weapons started to disappear, as the one holding their connecting chains pulled them back into his sleeve._

_She turned to see who was responsible for interrupting her path. "Hey! Four-Eyes! Pig-Boy! Long time no see!"_

"_F-for forgetting that I had fought you yesterday..." Mousse started to shout._

"_...and I had fought you an hour ago." Ryouga added in._

"_...Ranma! Prepare to die!" they both shouted at the same time._

"_Yeah yeah," Ranma said with a bored look on her face. "Look, guys, I'm kinda in a hurry. Can we take care of this later?" She immediately contorted as several bandannas whizzed past her. Hopping back right before a three pronged trident stuck itself into the ground in front of her, she straightened up. "I guess that's a no then?" _

_Dodging Ryouga's fist, she counterattacked with a vicious punch to his cheek, causing Ryouga's head to turn slightly to the side._

_Ryouga slowly turned back to her. "That's all?" he asked with a bored look on his face. "__You punch like a girl." _

***********

"...I'm going to have a pork barbecue when I find him again," Ranma angrily muttered.

"Do you want to hear what happened or not?" Mousse asked as he sat upon the foot of the bed.

Ranma found a spot next to her husband to sit down at. "Yeah."

***********

"_Shut up porkchop!" Ranma shouted as she planted her foot into Ryouga's gut. There was plenty of force behind her kick to lift Ryouga off of the ground and send him flying back several feet. He landed in a heap._

"_Not bad." Ryouga said as he slowly picked himself off the ground. "For a girl." It was obvious that he was unharmed._

_A puff of steam left her ears as her face turned an angry red. Rearing up, Ranma started to shout "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" She didn't get far past "Kachuu" and about 10 punches when she let out a yelp and jumped away right before a group of sharp metal implements impaled her._

"_Dammit, stay out of this!" she shouted at Mousse._

_Her distraction allowing Ryouga to tackle her from behind. _

_Squirming a little, she finally managed to plant her hands on the ground before grabbing Ryouga's neck with her legs. She threw him aside._

_Ryouga easily rolled with the fall and he was on his feet within a second._

"_Hey Ranma. I have something to tell you." There was a serious look on his face when he said this._

_Ranma paused. Was pigboy getting married? "What?"_

"_You really are a girl right now," Ryouga suddenly said with a large grin._

"_You liar!" she shouted before she leapt toward him. __**Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!**_

_Success!_

_Ryouga staggered back after taking several hundred blows in a single spot. "Love taps," he managed to mumble before he fell on his hands and knees and gagged._

_Ranma panted heavily. "If I'm a girl, I wouldn't have...these?" She looked down after patting her chest. Confused, she pulled her pants outward. __"Noooo...!" she shrieked before she stiffened and fell over._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"Hahahahahah"

Ranma was laughing loudly as she continually beat the bed with a fist. She managed to suck in a wheezing breath before she started laughing again.

"Hahahaha."

She finally regained enough control to say, "I would-I would never freak out like that!" before laughter overcame her once more. Hahahahah.

"Yeah...you wouldn't..." Mousse slowly said without an ounce of humor in his voice.

Ranma stopped laughing to look at her husband in concern. "Oi, Mousse, what's botherin ya man?"

"Ranma. I have something important to tell you."

"Really?! Well let's hear it man," she happily said.

Mousse hesitantly opened his mouth. "I'm sorry."

A confused look appeared on her face. "Err, okay. But what for?"

Mousse was silent for a moment. "I think you'll understand after you hear what happened next."

"Well, okay," she said as she picked up a pillow and hugged it to her chest.

Mousse picked that time to begin again.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Ranma's posture changed. "A-ano...where am I?" she asked in a quiet but high falsetto. She looked around timidly._

_Mousse and Ryouga looked at each other with a grin. All was going according to plan. Mousse pulled out a length of chain. After tying her up, they were going to throw her into a ditch in the middle of nowhere. Their revenge on Ranma for humiliating them would be complete._

***********

"Hey!"

"What?" Mousse asked, confused over the interruption.

"I remember seeing that I was a girl, getting angry, then beating the two of you up. " She looked at him with a gleam in her eye. "You're making things up again." she accused, "that's why you gave that fishy ending."

"Hahahaha, you caught me," Mousse laughed nervously.

"Well, as long as I win in the end. So what happens next? It sounds like I have amnesia. So how did I remember to kick both o' yer butts?"

"Actually. Someone else arrived and interrupted the fight."

"Aww, that's no fun."

"I suppose not."

***********

"_May I ask what you two boys plan on doing to a helpless middle school girl?" (2) came a frosty voice from behind._

_The two boys froze. Someone questioning their actions wasn't part of the plan. They slowly turned around to see who was asking. They found a woman with coppery red hair and a hard look in her eyes._

"_Uhh...it's not what it looks like Miss!" Mousse quickly said with a calming gesture._

"_Yeah, we were just looking for Ranma here and...!" Ryouga picked up._

"_Ranma? Did you say Ranma?" The unknown woman eagerly asked, the stern aura around her fading slightly._

_The two nodded eagerly._

"_How fortunate." she said, her tone of voice becoming warmer. "How is he? Has Genma honored his promise to make him a man among men yet?"_

"_Uhh, ma'am. That's Ranma. As you can see, he's not quite a man at the moment." Mousse finally said pointing at the redhead behind them._

_Said redhead was looking around wildly, a look of hope on her face._

"_Oniichan? Where? I don't see him!" _

_Mousse and Ryouga sweatdropped for a moment. This was no time for jokes. Their life was on the line! _

"_Fool, you are Ranma," Mousse angrily said._

"_Mu Tsu, stop playing dumb!" the redhead huffed. "You know that I have a guy curse, but I'm not Ranma. I'm Ranko."_

***********

"Eh?! Ranko?!" Ranma asked with a surprised look on her face. She wasn't expecting Ranko to pop up in this story.

"Heh. That's the exact same expression that Nodoka had."

"Wait, that unknown lady was Ma?!"

"Correct," Mousse said with a nod as he covered her mouth, "So the first thing that she said after hearing the girl's name was..."

***********

"_...Ranko?"_

"_Hai! I'm Ranma's twin sister." Ranko cheerfully said before the air around her became slightly heavier. "Where are you Oniichan?"_

"_Ranma is an only child," Nodoka suddenly said aloud. "He has no twin."_

"_Huh?!" A look of shock and disbelief appeared on Ranko's face._

"_Who are you really?" Nodoka demanded as she held the bundle out menacingly._

"_Ranko! Ranma's twin! We were born together!" The redheaded girl stubbornly replied._

"_..." Nodoka stared silently at the girl for a moment before she turned to glare at the two boys who were in the middle of sneaking away. "Poor dear. It might be too late for you, but I'll make sure these boys never trouble another girl again." She started to unwrap the bundle in her hand._

_The terror that the two felt could not quite be explained. All they knew was that they had to act or else they would die. Ryouga promptly reached into Mousse's sleeve._

_Pulling his hand out, he stared stupidly at the small thermos in his hand for a moment before he ripped off the top half of the thermos and threw its contents at the two females._

_Ranko immediately shrieked and ducked down. In the process, she had grabbed the older lady and moved her directly into the path of the incoming water. _

_It was over in seconds and the scene slowly faded to black as Nodoka turned and unsheathed the Saotome sword with a look of cold fury on her wet face. __ Ranko died. The end._

***********

"Mousse!" Ranma angrily shouted at her husband.

***********

_Just kidding. Just kidding. The sword was still wrapped up and harmless._

_However, Nodoka wasn't happy. After sputtering for a moment from the glob of warm soup that struck her in the face, she turned around to express her displeasure over such poor manners. Instead of finding a pigtailed girl hiding behind her though, she found a pigtailed boy._

"_Sorry! Didn't see anyone below when I decided to throw the warm water that was in this tub as far as I could," shouted a voice from the fifth story of one of the nearby apartments._

"_Ranma," the auburn haired woman mouthed before she fainted._

_It's a good thing boy-Ranko was still holding onto her when this happened._

_***********_

"_Umm...I've had this curse since I was really young Mrs. Saotome," Ranko mused as he sat comfortably upon a couch in the living room of the Tendo home. "Sorry about moving you into the path of the water." he added as an afterthought._

_Sitting opposite from him was the lady that he had just met today. The woman had finally awoken and Ranko was currently chatting with her about the curse and a few other things. It hadn't been easy carrying her all the way here. Ranko had to do it alone because Mousse and Ryoga were already gone when he had turned to ask the two of them for help. _

"_Apology accepted," Nodoka said before taking a small sip of her tea. "This is good," she commented. "Are those Chrysanthemum petals?" _

_Tho two were oblivious to a duck peering into the living room from outside._

"_So hot water turns you into a boy, and cold water returns you back to a girl?" Nodoka said after hearing the basic story._

"_That's correct!" the boy happily said. _

_Nodoka picked up the glass of water that was sitting next to her. ~__**Splash.~**__ Ranko took it in a stride when he lost more than a head in height and filled out in other areas. Readjusting her clothes for more comfort, Ranko just sat and waited for Saotome-san's next move._

_Nodoka didn't disappoint. Picking up the tea kettle, she was just bringing the spout over Ranko's head when the pigtailed girl suddenly shouted, "Wait!" Nodoka paused, giving Ranko time to take the kettle away._

_Ranko quickly picked up a glass of cold water from off of the table and poured it into the kettle. "It doesn't need to be hot. Just warm." She explained as she swirled the contents around for a few moments. Feeling the side of the tea kettle for a moment, she nodded before handing it back to the older woman. She closed her eyes and awaited the..._

_**~ Splash. ~**__ Back to boy._

"_This is strange," Nodoka speculated as she set the kettle down before nervously thumbing the long wrapped bundle in her arms._

"_We're home!" Soun announced to the household._

"_Welcome home Mr. Tendo, Father," Ranko shouted._

"_Oh? Ranko? What happened to Ranma?" Soun called out. He peered in._

_A depressed air had appeared around Ranko. "I haven't seen him Mr. Tendo. Are you positive that he isn't avoiding me?" he quietly asked, not noticing the look of surprise on Soun's face. _

_That look of surprise was mirrored on two other faces._

"_Genma?" Nodoka asked._

"_N-N-Nodoka!" The sometimes-panda stammered._

"_What has happened to our son?" she demanded._

"_Isn't he right next to you?" Genma quickly asked. _

_Nodoka took one look at the boy sitting next to her. An odd look appeared on her face. "This is Ranko."_

"_Of course not honey. That is Ranma. Right Ranma?" Genma asked the boy sitting next to his mother in a pleading tone of voice._

_Ranko checked himself over before he looked up. "There you go again Father, confusing me for Ranma. We do look the same when I'm in boy form but I'm sure you can find some difference between the two of us."_

"_Genma, what did you do to our son?" The fat man's wife demanded._

"_Son? Are you...Mother?" Ranko asked as he finally made the connection between the two of them. He quickly hugged the auburn-haired woman. She reluctantly hugged him back._

"_I raised him to be a man among men of course," Genma proudly said._

"_Ow! That hurt," Ranko whined childishly when Nodoka jabbed him in the side._

"_This is a man among men?" Nodoka asked._

_A giant sweatdrop appeared behind Genma's head. "J-Just give me a little more time dear," _

"_No husband. This farce has gone on long enough. We had an agreement," Nodoka said as she pushed a reluctant Ranko aside and began unwrapping the bundle in her hands._

"_Kami-sama!" Ranko shrieked when he finally realized what the cloth covering was hiding. He immediately jumped away when a sharp blade was revealed with a shing. Son and father quickly retreated to the far corner of the living room._

"_Are you both shirking your duty?" Nodoka asked as she started to stalk after them with the katana held menacingly in front of her. The two hiding in the corner immediately separated when she swung. Undeterred, Nodoka turned toward Genma and swung again. And again. _

_It was soon obvious that her swordsmanship was a terrifying piece of work. Genma even stopped running away for a moment to desperately grab the blade near the hilt right before it dug into his lovely but crazy wife's neck and separated her head from her body. After thanking him for the save, she raised the sword again. Soon after, he was running away again._

_Forgotten for the moment, Ranko followed after the two as he tried to get his mother to stop. Finally one slash came close enough to nick several hairs off of his head and cut a small gash in his cheek. The raven haired boy immediately fainted, bubbles foaming from his mouth._

_All action froze for an instant as everyone watched the boy collapsed._

_Actually no. Life continued and only Soun noticed Ranma collapse. Mentally noting that Ranma wasn't moving from that spot on the ground, he turned back to watch. A horrified look appeared on his face as Nodoka shredded his couch in a crude demonstration of she would do to her husband the instant he stopped running. It was suitable motivation for him to keep running. Raising the sword over her head, she chased after her husband while shouting death threats._

_While this was happening, Their son finally opened his eyes. Slowly sitting up, he patted his chest before pulling out his pants. Finding everything up to spec, he stared at the chaos before him. Some crazy lady was trying to skewer his pops._

"_Oi. What's going on?" he demanded. When no one responded, he moved within range and grabbed the wildly swinging woman by the wrist. "Who are you lady?" he demanded as he ripped the katana from her grasp. _

_He froze when he heard what the woman said next._

"_Dear?"_

_He turned wide eyes toward the woman. Another fiancee?! _

_She wasn't staring at him, so he could breathe a sigh of relief at that. Instead, she was looking at his pops with pursed lips._

"_This is Ranma?" she asked._

_Genma reluctantly nodded._

"_Disown him."_

"_What?!" Everyone else shouted._

"_It's obvious that he's unstable," the woman reasoned._

"_Nodoka, you can't," Genma argued._

"_If he's disowned, neither of you will have to die."_

_Genma was silent, it appeared that he was lost in thought._

_Ha! Ranma wasn't worried. His pops needed him. There was no way-_

"_Ranma, from henceforth, you shall be stricken from the Saotome clan register. To us, you are a nobody. Pack your bags because Tendo-san is not expected to allow you to stay here as a guest." _

_3 seconds. It must have been a very very hard decision._

"_Why pops why?!" Ranma hollered at his father._

_Genma drew himself up. "Boy, there comes a time when you have to seek out your own way of life. To have you die now would be so tragic that my soul may never find peace. Now go forth, the world awaits." the bald man said with a dignified nod._

_Ordinarily, Ranma would attack his father over such a shoddy attempt to look cool...b-but this was serious! "Disowned!" the loathesome words echoed over and over in his mind. They eventually faded as he hid away again. Another personality rose to fill in the empty space that he had left behind._

"_Huh? Where am I? Oh! Sorry, Mother, Father. I must have fainted again. Did anything happen while I was away?"_

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"And then Ranko appeared again and stayed out until Cologne sent us into your mind to pull you from your hiding spot. I told you how that happened a few days ago. Remember?" Mousse quietly said as he reflected on Nodoka's bad timing. Their actions that day had ruined Ranma's life. While she had recovered admirably, this wasn't the same Ranma from before.

Silence.

"Ranma?" Mousse queried. There was still no reply. She wasn't moving.

"I remember..." the girl finally whispered, her blank eyes staring at nothing. Her latest purchases were held limply in her hands as she laid stomach-down upon the bed.

"But it doesn't make sense!" The girl shouted loudly, greatly alarming Mousse. She grabbed her head "Ow ow ow," she cried, rolling around as she tried to remove a phantom pain that was piercing through her brain. With one final spin, all that was keeping her from the ground was half a meter of air. There was a thud as she fell off of the bed and landed facefirst on the ground.

"Ranma!" Mousse said with a worried tone of voice when she didn't move. He quickly ran over to her side and reached down, only to have his attempt knocked away with a swift backhand.

Ranma slowly pulled herself up before she blinked several times in rapid succession. She finally turned to Mousse. "Thanks man." she brusquely said.

Mousse looked confused.

"For the story." she chirped as her eyes started to shine again.

Mousse continued to look confused. In fact he was staring down at...

She looked downwards. There was a pair of boxers in one of her hands. The one of many that she had picked up earlier today. From the men's section just past the women's section. She looked up with a challenging look on her face. "I just like em, is there anything wrong with that?"

"O-of course not." Mousse hastily said.

* * *

**Preview of Next Chapter:**

Kasumi suddenly stopped humming when something caught her eye. "Ranko! Watch out!" she quickly warned.

The raven haired boy blinked. "Huh?"

**Thunk! ~ Splash! ~**

A sopping wet redhead girl was laid out on the ground with a wash bucket resting innocently on her back. She looked sort of like a turtle.

**Next up: Ranko's Story. **

See you then.

* * *

**Author's corner:**

In case I messed up big time, Ranma wears boxers. 

(2) middle school girl - People can mistake Ranma for a middle school student because of her short stature and youthful looks.

Mm...this was my weirdest chapter yet. The WTH moments were definitely piled up. I blame Hayate the Combat Butler. Much of the influence as well as a few jokes come from the manga-anime.

If you haven't noticed already, I'm working backwards in time. Well yeah, I'd get less complaints over the difficulty in understanding the story if I rewrote and started from the beginning, but the goobs that receive good reviews have done this so many times that I'm getting bored really fast nowadays.

Don't worry if it's still difficult to understand, I have a plan. And yes, it involves jumping off of something.

One of my favorite scenes comes from Aondehafka's White Rose. A story where Kodachi changes the universe and gets Ranma in the process. Okay, the setup?

LinLin and RanRan were in Japan again. This time they were searching for a strong husband. Anyway, Tatewaki was watching Monty Python when this line appeared... "When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled. Brave brave brave brave Ryoga." I haven't watched Monty Python yet, but I thought the timing was perfect. At the same time Kuno was watching the movie, moments earlier, Ryouga had defeated and questioned the two girls with weird hair colors about their relationship to Shampoo.

Hmm, I can't quite remember why I included the quote...it relates to something in this chapter. Maybe a scene that I deleted. The quote stays! Ah, White Rose is by Aondehafka, not Derekloffin. This scene is in Chapter 8: The Battle of Okonomiyaki and Ramen. Thanks FF.

The next chapter is the last important chapter. Afterwards it's just the tying up of loose ends. Thanks for reading.

* * *

**Acknowledgements**

Thanks to **Lord Rance **for the Ideas on Mousse's weaponry and Love Potion effects.

Thanks to **Shun** for Editing and Quality Checking.

Thanks to **FF** for jogging my memory. I had forgotten that in addition to hosting his own fics, **Derekloffin **posted stories by other authors as well.

Sorry to **Derekloffin** for my bookkeeping mistake.

Whoever came up with that Nodoka who can't use a sword really well schtick, I love you!

* * *

**Disclaimer:**

Ming: "Hmm...I need a shave..."  
Shun: "No time for that now. Tie this headband around your head. Here. In this case you'll find a tranquilizing pistol."   
Ming: "...You're making it seem like I'm about to go on a top secret infiltration mission..."  
Shun: "Oh! That's right! We don't own Metal Gear Solid."  
Ming: "..."  
Shun: "Nor do we own Ranma."  
Ming: "..."  
Shun; "Well hurry up already! Here's your headset, I've set it so that our communication frequency is 80.5MHz. Turning this knob will set the frequency to 82.2MHz. That will be the channel to use to save your progress."  
Ming: "..."  
Shun: "Well? Why aren't you moving?"  
Ming: "Uhh...Why would I want to save my progress?"  
Shun: "Why else? In case you die."  
Ming: "...it's time to cut back on the games, Shun."


	4. Ch3: Ranko's Story

_Ranko? He's Rather Average with a Kind Smile and a Good Heart._

_Hidden Behind the Looking Glass_  
by MingShun

* * *

Disclaimer at Bottom

- ~~~~~~~~ - (Begin Flashback)  
_Tale from the Past _(Italicized)_  
_Tale from the Present (Nonitalics)  
*********** (Divider)  
- xxxxxxxxx - (End Flashback)

In the last chapter, Mousse tried to break his marriage with Ranma. He failed. In addition, we find out that bad timing resulted in Ranma's disownment from the Saotome family. While Ranma regains the Saotome name eventually, there is a period of time where she lived outside.

* * *

***********

Chapter 3: Ranko's Story

***********

Ranma tried to loop it around the post, but it still wasn't long enough. "Mousse, extend the clothesline a little willya?"

Mousse quickly reached into his sleeve and pulled out several more links.

Soon after, Ranma had her end looped around and tied tightly to a pole in the middle of the yard. "There," she said after testing the quality of the knot. Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand, she looked happily at the chain that originated Mousse's sleeve.

She looked up at Mousse and held out her hand. "Now for the other end."

Mousse pulled the rest of the chain out of his sleeve before handing the other end to his wife.

Taking it, she walked over to the other pole in the ground before she stopped and frowned. "Too long," she mumbled before she shrugged and looped it around anyway. With several deft loops, she soon had the other end fastened to the pole. She stepped back to look over her handiwork.

A stray wind brushed against the long piece of leftover chain, causing it to clank against the pole.

Ranma turned to her husband. "Whatever happened to that wimpy boy that everyone useta tell me about? What was his name..." she tapped her finger against her cheek, "Ranko, right?"

Mousse fumbled slightly with the Chinese shirt that he was preparing to hang up. "What?"

Ranma took the shirt from his grasp before she leaned forward. "Ranko. You know, guy about this tall, black hair, wore a pigtail, turns into a girl occasionally," an impish look suddenly appeared on her face, "super sexy."

Mousse looked strangely at Ranma. "Nabiki-san said that didn't she?"

His question caused a confused look to appear on her face. "How'd ya know?"

"That's not something you would say." he absentmindedly responded before he froze up once he realized what he had just said.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "How would YOU know?" she demanded.

This was bad. If there was one thing that Ranma hated, it was being predictable. Lacking a suitable reply, he decided to change the subject. "You were asking about what happened to Ranko, right?" Of course Ranma wasn't going to fall for that.

"Yeah, what happened to him?" Ranma asked as her anger abruptly disappeared.

Mousse stumbled for a response. Ranma had to be really curious if her anger disappeared that quickly. "Oh...uh...why don't we ask Kasumi?"

"But Ma wanted us to finish hanging the clothes by the time she returned with Pops."

Mousse gave her an odd look.

"What?" Ranma asked before she turned and her jaw slackened.

She stared in wide-eyed surprise at the neatly arrayed clothing flapping nicely in the small backyard. The hamper was completely empty.

"Let's go," Mousse said.

Ranma mechanically bent down to pick up the hamper. "Yeah. Let's," she said as she walked toward the house to put everything away.

***********

The Tendo Dojo was on the other side of Nerima. Their preferred mode of travel, roof hopping, made the trip quick and stress free because it allowed them to bypass the busy streets. They quickly arrived at their destination despite several traffic accidents happening on their way over.

The two stared at the double gates that guarded the Tendo compound for a moment. Ranma was the one to step forward to knock on the door. Kasumi opened the door moments later.

She froze in surprise when she saw who was visiting. "Oh my. Hello Ranma-chan, Mousse-san. What brings you here today?"

"Ranm-" Mousse started to say before he let out a yelp of pain.

Kasumi looked confusedly at Ranma as the smaller girl pulled her foot back. "Mousse had some questions that he wanted to ask you Kasumi-chan," the redhead innocently said.

"Oh! Do come in then. I'm afraid I was not expecting any visitors. Could you kindly wait in the living room while I prepare some tea?" the older girl asked.

Ranma stopped jabbing Mousse angrily to turn to the taller girl. "Can I help Kasumi-chan?" she chirped, ignoring Mousse's retaliatory jabs to her side. She finally had enough, and irritably smacked his hand away. "Kasumi-chan?" she asked, looking up at her friend.

Kasumi lost her surprised look. "O-of course. This way Ranma-chan."

The two girls left Mousse in the yard. He stared at the half filled hamper that was sitting in front of the Dojo for a moment. Then he looked up at the half-filled clothesline.

***********

Ranma had her face set in a concentrating look as she carefully poured the kettle's contents into the teapot that Kasumi had prepared.

"You've improved Ranma-chan," Kasumi observed with a small smile. "No spills this time."

"Thanks! I've been practicing!" the married redhead said happily as she enthusiastically swung her arm in a wide circle. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that she still had a half-full kettle in her hand. The lid came off.

"Aieeee! Hot!" she cried, her eyes shut in pain as the hot water landed all over her.

Kasumi immediately led the girl from the kitchen to the furo. After helping Ranma strip and enter the cool water left over from this morning, she left the bathroom. After letting Ranma soak for a few minutes, the eldest Tendo daughter returned with a towel and a dry set of clothes before walking out again.

Ranma finally felt well enough to leave the furo. Walking over to the new set of clothes, "..." she stared wordlessly at them.

***********

After Ranma left the bathroom and looked around a little, she found her husband and their hostess seated in the living room already. The living room door leading to the garden was already wide open. A warm breeze wafted into the room, ruffling her hair.

Kasumi and Mousse were seated around a table in the center of the room and engaged in small talk.

"Strange how everyone is out at -" Mousse started to say before he looked up. "The shirt is different," he commented as he took in the sight of Ranma wearing her traditional chinese pants. Instead of her chinese shirt, however, Ranma wore a pink short-sleeve blouse.

"Oh, Ranma-chan. I'm terribly sorry." Kasumi said, turning to face her friend.

"It wasn't your fault Kasumi," Ranma replied with a careless wave before she tugged on the collar of her shirt.

"Still..." Kasumi protested.

Ranma chose that moment to plop herself down next to Mousse and hold out an empty teacup. "Tea please." She turned and frowned when Mousse shifted over to an empty side of the table.

Mousse appeared not to notice her disappointment.

Kasumi lifted the teapot by the handle and began to pour the tea into the waiting girl's cup. "As I was telling Mousse, the weather is perfect, I'm glad you decided to visit." Kasumi remarked as a stray breeze from the open door wafted in.

Ranma's cup was soon ready. "D'ya know whatever happened to...y'know?" Ranma demanded as she swiped the cup. She chugged it down in a single gulp.

At Kasumi's confused look, Ranma tried to clarify. "That guy that usedta hang around here."

"Ranma is trying to ask what happened to Ranko." Mousse clarified before he took a sip of the pleasant tea.

A look of understanding appeared on the eldest Tendo daughter's face.

"That's what I just said," Ranma grumbled as she grabbed the teapot and poured herself another cup.

"Is it?" Mousse taunted.

Ranma stopped concentrating on the tea kettle and opened her mouth to give a flaming retort.

"I'm not sure"

Ranma quickly closed her mouth in surprise. Had she said that?

She looked over at Mousse. He was looking at their hostess. Ranma turned to Kasumi-chan. The older girl was staring down at her teacup with a pensive look on her face. Did Kasumi-chan say that then?

"You're not sure?" Ranma tentatively asked. Then her eyes widened, and she jumped away from the table.

Because she wasn't paying attention to the teapot, the tea had overfilled the teacup. The hot liquid then covered most of her side of the table before it proceeded to dribble over the edge and onto her lap.

Kasumi pulled a damp cloth from out of nowhere. "Before I had realized it, he had disappeared," she said as she swiftly wiped up the mess.

Despite being cleaned, her spot was still moist, so Ranma crouched down over her spot before shifting her weight forward a little so that her chin fell upon the slightly wet table with a soft thud.

"I see." the female martial artist mumbled before she placed both hands on the edge of the table and pushed herself up. She looked over eagerly at Kasumi. "Hey, can you tell me more about him?"

"Interested?" Mousse prodded.

"No way, I'm not givin' you up. But Kasumi looked lonely," Ranma quickly said.

Kasumi looked up in surprise. "What?" she asked with wide eyes.

"No, no, I mean...umm, it looks like you wanna do something to him."

"I-I don't understand," Kasumi whispered, her eyes as large as dinner plates and a bit of red appeared on her cheeks.

"Neither do I," Mousse casually seconded, glancing briefly at Kasumi before looking at Ranma again.

Ranma looked away from the other two with an irritated half-lidded look.

A moment later, she hit the palm of her hand with a fist and turned back around. "You look like you wanna talk ta him!" she said with a grin. "So I wanna look for him and beat him up."

If Kasumi's face was any indication, Ranma's last comment made absolutely no sense.

"Hmm...I think what Ranma is trying to ask..." Mousse started to say. "I still don't know. Hahaha, and she's supposed to be my wife." he laughed.

Having Mousse laugh at her was extremely irritating. "Rrrrrr" Ranma steamed before her face lit up as another idea came to her. "Everyone tells me different things about Ranko. The tomboy calls him an eternal pervert. Mousse calls him a magical girl. Nabiki-san says that he was an innocent in a cruel world. Mom just clams up, as if he's done something wrong. And Pops always calls him a weak fool. I haven't bothered asking Shampoo cause I wouldn't understand her and I haven't heard what you have to say about him."

Kasumi continued to look lost.

Mousse, however, had an inkling of what Ranma was trying to say. "Kasumi-san, Ranma is asking what you remember about Ranko. She wants to hear what you have to say about him."

"Yeah! That's right! Thanks man," Ranma cheerfully said to Mousse before she turned back to their host.

Kasumi watched the tea leaves in her tea cup. "He was nice..." she absentmindedly said. "He always had a bright smile for everyone." She didn't say anything else.

Minutes passed...

Ranma finally couldn't take the wait anymore. The floor was finally dry, so she sat down before saying, "Ranko...I've been wondering something, Can you spell his name for me?"

Kasumi stood up from her kneeling position and hurried out of the living room.

Ranma and Mousse watched her go in surprise before they turned to each other.

The pigtailed girl finally broke the silence. "What'd you say?"

"You mean, what did you say?" her husband smartly replied.

"I didn't say nuthin', so it's gotta be you that did somethin'," was the automatic response.

Mousse gazed at the redhead with half-lidded eyes for a long moment. There was something ironic about that statement.

Ranma leaned back a little as she gazed suspiciously at her husband. "What'cha starin' at me like that for Mousse?" she demanded. "You're not thinkin' something weird are you?"

The bespectacled boy was saved from answering when footsteps sounded from the stairs.

Kasumi soon appeared back in the living room and wordlessly handed a small slip of paper to Ranma.

"What's this? This is..." she narrowed her eyes and pulled it closer to read something. Ran...ko?" Ranma's eyes grew wide and her mouth opened in a large smile. She fell onto her back and shrieked with laughter. "Hahahaha, I knew it! Kami-sama, what guy has a name written like this?!"

"Mousse! Mousse! Ya gotta see this!" Ranma said as she held out a slip of paper. Mousse took it and briefly glanced at it before he held it out for Kasumi to take.

Ranma reached over as she tried to steal the fragment away. "Noo, I want to see it again," she shouted when Kasumi carefully took back the slip of paper that she had ripped from one of Ranko's test papers that she had saved.

Mousse tapped on Ranma's arm to grab her attention. "Shh, it looks like Kasumi wants to say something." he whispered.

Kasumi blinked when she noticed both of her guests staring at her. A small smile appeared. "I guess I could start from the beginning," Kasumi quietly said.

Ranma and Mousse nodded.

"I believe when you first arrived, you had a shouting match against Akane? Remember?" Kasumi asked with a fond smile.

"Sorta," the redhead sulked as she stared wantingly at Kasumi's sleeve.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Ranma stood in front of Akane. Both of their faces were an angry red._

"_You pervert! You peeked in on me!"_

"_Yeah? Well I got five things to say to you." Ranma shouted as she held one palm facing out, all fingers extended._

_One finger went down, "First," Ranma started, "you're uncute." _

_The second finger went down. "Second, you're very uncute."_

_Another finger went down. "Third, you're extremely uncute."_

_The fourth finger went down. "Fourth, you're cosmically uncute."_

_The fifth finger was just going down. "Fifth-"_

_**THUD**__ (1)_

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"Damn tomboy." Ranma muttered. "Buried me under a table." she said as she rubbed an invisible spot on her head.

Kasumi just smiled, "Ran-kun had a shouting match with Akane the very next day."

Mousse blinked. "Ran-kun?" Did he hear correctly?

"Did he?" Ranma eagerly asked.

Kasumi smiled and nodded.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_Pervert! You were staring at me!"_

"_What the hell are you talkin' about?" Ranko roared._

"_You wanted to see me naked, didn't you you pervert?!" Akane demanded._

"_Do you know how stupid that sounds?! You're so stupid!" he retorted._

_Right when Akane was about to retort, Ranko suddenly shook his head. "No, you're very stupid!" he shouted as he shoved a finger into her face._

_He shook his head again. "That's not it. You, stupid, are extremely stupid!" he shouted as he pulled his finger back before shoving it into her face once again._

_He let out an exasperated sound. "This is stupid! I can't even describe how stupid you are. Okay, YOU are super cosmically...hey, what are you doing with that table..." _

_He couldn't help it, it just slipped out. "...stupid?" _

_-Cr__**ac**__k.-_

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"When I found him later, I thought he was dead," Kasumi cheerfully said.

They were silent for a moment.

Ranma had an interested look on her face. "I've gotta try those insults."

"That's odd. From what I remember, Ranko was more eloquent than that," Mousse said with a thoughtful look.

"Yes. That's correct. But when he first arrived, his speaking skills were as bad as Ranma's."

Ranma fell back as if she had been speared through the heart.

"But unlike Ranma, he actually learned to string words together in an understandable fashion." Kasumi added.

"Painful," Ranma quietly said as she collapsed, knocking her teacup over in the process. Good thing it was empty already.

Kasumi didn't notice Ranma's plight as she leaned forward enthusiastically. "Half a year later, Nabiki walked up to me and said that she had had the best night ever. When I asked her why, she admitted that Ranko had managed to talk her into a corner. And for some unknown reason, she didn't feel angry in the least."

"Oh, not bad. Is he offering lessons?" Mousse cracked as he poked the fallen girl.

A vein appeared on Ranma's forehead as she sat up. "Dammit Mousse! I told ya to shut up about that! I'm perfectly understandable!" she roared.

"When you're quiet"

"W-What?!" the redhead asked in disbelief.

"Perhaps I wasn't loud enough," Mousse calmly said. He took a deep breath before loudly saying, "I said, you are understandable when you are very qui-"

"That's what I thought you said!" Ranma angrily roared as she leapt at her husband before he finished saying 'quiet.' Her preemptive strike caught him off guard.

Kasumi watched her guests create a large dust cloud in the backyard as they brawled. She took a sip of her tea before smiling. "It's nice to see the two of them getting along so well."

Half a minute later, Ranma returned to her seat.

Are you okay? Kasumi concernedly asked.

"Yeah yeah, we've had worse," Ranma said, one of her eyes half-closed as it started to swell. Her blouse and pants also had numerous small rips in them.

Mousse was outside, laid out on a spot just meters away from the Koi pond. The smoke wafting off of him as well as his slightly burnt appearance gave him a slightly crispy look.

Kasumi shook her head to signal her disagreement. "Please wait a moment, I will be right back." Kasumi said as she left the room again. She soon returned with a first aid kit that she had retrieved from the Dojo.

After efficiently treating Mousse's wounds, Kasumi reentered the house and smiled at Ranma.

The shorter girl's eyes immediately doubled in size. "Uh hey, I'm fine Kasumi-chan, really! I can do it myself." Ranma said as she shuffled backwards to put some distance between her and her host.

Kasumi sternly pointed to a spot in front of her.

"Kasumi-chan!" Ranma whined, vigorously shaking her head no.

Kasumi pointed to the same spot, her smile beginning to lose its definition.

The pigtailed girl reluctantly crawled forward and sat down in front of her friend.

Kasumi quickly cleaned out the cuts on Ranma's arms. "You should be more careful whenever you play with your friends and family, Ranma-chan," the brunette reprimanded. It sounded so casual that if Ranma hadn't known the older girl, it would have sounded like a suggestion she could ignore.

"Yes Kasumi-chan," Ranma sullenly replied.

Kasumi dabbed the last of the visible wounds with a cottonball soaked with rubbing alcohol. "Is that all?" she asked the smaller girl.

"Yep," Ranma quickly said as she backed away again. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on any obstacles being in her path of retreat.

She winced when her back bumped against the table. "Shi-shimatta!" she cried when she saw Kasumi's inquisitive look. "Ah! It's nothin' Kasumi-chan, I hit the table a bit too hard, is all."

Kasumi would have none of that. "Please. Turn around and lift up your blouse, Ranma-chan."

Ranma frantically shook her head no as she held her hands up in a warding gesture.

"Please?" the older girl asked again.

Under this pressure, she had no choice but to buckle. Turning around and resting her frontside on the table, she raised the back of the torn blouse slightly. She heard a gasp before Kasumi came over. A hand soon pressed lightly on the small of her back.

"You really don't have to Kasumi-chan." Ranma whispered into the table as she held the back of her shirt up so that Kasumi could treat what seemed like a large cut on her backside. This was so embarrassing. Why was Kasumi treating her like this? Even Mousse didn't take as long to treat and he had more cuts and bruises.

"Don't worry Ranma-chan, you're my guest," Kasumi's said in a reassuring voice from behind. "Please bear with me a little longer. I'm almost done."

Ranma winced. "Ow ow, that stings Kasumi-chan!"

Kasumi continued to dab at the cut. "Only for a moment," she whispered soothingly before she sat up. "There." she said as she attached a large bandage on the girl's back. "Please be more careful next time Ranma-chan. And no fighting until your injuries heal."

"Ah, thanks Kasumi-chan!" Ranma said as she pulled the blouse down and crawled forward to help with the cleanup.

She wasn't feeling very confident however. While she would try her best to follow Kasumi's instructions, there was no telling when another weirdo would come and challenge her.

"So Ranko was good at sayin' things?" she asked as she tried to stop thinking about how many seconds she had left before she would have to fight again.

"Yes," came the answer.

Ranma thought about it for a moment before she grinned. "Meh words, who needs em, when fists can solve the problem better?" she said with a dismissive wave.

Kasumi looked like she was about to protest.

"What else can you tell me about him?" the smaller girl continued, not realizing that Kasumi wanted to say something.

Kasumi blinked, Ranma's interruption had derailed her thoughts. "Umm...Oh! He was helpful..." She said as she set down the first aid kit. "There was one weekend..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Soun was with Mr. Saotome. Akane was out with her friends for the day. _

_That left Kasumi, Nabiki and Ranma as the sole occupants of the house today. Nabiki was on her bed reading manga and snacking on a small bag of chips. Ranma should be in the Dojo training in an advanced ground-based form that she had learned recently to balance out her superior aerial skills._

_Kasumi soon left Akane's room with a bundle of clothing._

_Placing it into a hamper, she picked up the hamper and started down the stairs. _

_Kasumi let out a yelp when one of her feet slipped, and she suddenly found herself falling forward._

_Instead of landing badly, she found herself hitting something firm and slightly damp._

"_Kasumi-san?" a mellow baritone asked._

"_Ranma? What are you-" Kasumi started to ask, a little flustered. She looked up just in time to see the boy's eyes widen._

"_Ranma? Where?" the pigtailed boy eagerly asked._

"_Oh, I'm sorry Ranko, I mistook you for Ranma again." Kasumi said._

_Ranko seemed to lose some of his energy, __"Oh." _

"_What are you doing here Ranko-kun?" Kasumi hurriedly asked, trying to salvage Ranko's mood._

_The boy looked up. "I thought I heard Oniichan, so I started to search around the house. Then I saw you fall so I ran up to catch you."_

_They were silent for a moment. _

"_Hey, you two lovebirds want to take it somewhere else?" Nabiki asked as she looked down at them from the top of the stairs. The two turned red when they suddenly realized the odd position they were in._

"_Ah! Sorry Kasumi-san!" Ranko apologized, letting her go and jumping back as if he had just stuck his hand into a furnace. He stood in his new spot rubbing the back of his head and nodding repeatedly in a weak semblance of a kowtow._

_From her spot upstairs, Nabiki gave a grin before she returned to her room._

_Kasumi felt a little disappointed for some reason that she couldn't explain. But personal matters came later, it looked like Ranko was still upset. "It's okay Ranko-kun." She reassured the boy, giving him a smile to let him know that she wasn't angry._

_Ranko stopped apologizing to gaze curiously at the large heap of clothes in the basket. "Hey! Are you washing the clothes? Can I help Kasumi-san?" _

_Kasumi froze up. It had been a while since someone had offered to help her with her daily chores._

_Ranko leaned forward a little when he didn't get a response. Their noses were almost touching. "Kasumi-san?"_

_Kasumi yelped and fell back slightly. Taking a moment to compose herself, she looked up at the boy. "Oh, I-I don't see why not," she stammered. "Some help would be nice."_

_Ranko smiled a great big smile before he bent down and took the hamper. "You agreed Kasumi-san, no takebacks!" he shouted as he ran for the laundry room._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"He sounds like a kid," Ranma commented.

"Yes, he often acted childishly," Kasumi mused. She looked down again before pulling back slightly to put some distance between her friend and her. "Ranma-chan?" she asked in surprise.

"I thought you liked older men," Ranma commented, as she crawled forward a little so that her nose was just centimeters away from Kasumi's face again.

"Well yes, I do," Kasumi hesitantly said.

"Hmm...well, I dunno why I said that." Ranma said as she stretched upwards before crawling back to her spot and placing both elbows on the table. "What happens next?" she asked as she rested her chin on her hands.

Kasumi thought for a moment. "Well..."

There was a groan from outside.

"...Let's wait for Mousse first," Kasumi suggested.

Ranma groaned as well.

The two girls sat there silently for a few minutes, watching Mousse get up. It almost seemed like Mousse was deliberately moving slowly to egg them on. He finally walked in and took a seat.

"Can we get started now?" Ranma asked, giving her husband a brief glare. Mousse just frowned and pulled out a spare pair of glasses and seated them on his face. He promptly returned Ranma's glare with one of his own.

Kasumi was oblivious to all of this as she wondered how she should start this next part. "With Ranko's help, it took little time to finish washing the clothes. After wringing them out, we took the damp clothes outside to hang..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_Kasumi-san!" Ranko called out from the other side of the twin parallel clothesline that ran between them. _

_Kasumi blinked. "What is it Ranko-san." she asked._

"_Look look!" he shouted, pushing aside a white t-shirt and a pair of slacks to show her the eldest Tendo daughter something._

"_Boy's underwear?" Kasumi asked when she saw what was in his hands._

_Ranko grinned. "Yup! what's it called?" _

"_I'm afraid I do not understand," Kasumi said with a confused look on her face._

"_Boxers!" Ranko said before he suddenly burst out laughing. "Isn't it such a funny thing to call an underwear?!"_

"_Oh. I see," Kasumi said with a smile and a nod. The two hung up more clothes while Ranko continued to chortle._

_His laughter finally died down. That was when __Kasumi sprung. "Ranko-san?"_

"_Huh? Yes Kasumi-san?"_

"_Why does my home look like a turtle?"_

_Ranko turned to stare at the house on one end of the clothesline. "It doesn't look like a turtle," he said after a moment, turning back to the homely girl._

"_What a coincidence! That's what I think too." Kasumi said with a smile on her face. _

"_Snrk! Hahahahah." He was soon bent over and struggling to breathe. "T-Th-That was great Kasumi," he managed to say between guffaws._

_Tears were coming from his eyes when he could finally straighten up a minute later._

_Kasumi had an embarrassed smile on her face. "Oh come on, it wasn't that funny."_

"_It was!" He insisted when he finally stopped laughing. "Tell me another one!"_

_Kasumi thought for a moment. She then put down the socks in her hands before ducking under the twin lines to appear in front of Ranko. _

"_A cornet," she started, using a finger on each hand to outline a cone shaped baked pastry with the large end facing downwards. "Turn the cornet on its side and it becomes a musical instrument that you can play," she said while moving her fingers as if she was playing a trumpet. _

_She stopped playing the fake instrument to hold a finger out. She spun it in a circle while saying, "Turn the cornet back to start, and you can wear it on your head." She then pretended to place something on her head._

_Ranko remained silent. _

_'Oh...' Kasumi thought in disappointment as she lowered her hands to her sides. She had thought it was a funny joke._

"_Pft."_

_Kasumi quickly looked up._

"_Hahahahahaha."_

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"Pastry, trumpet, crown. Cornet, cornet, coronet. They all sound similar. Perfect." Kasumi said, recalling what he said with a giggle. "He looked like he was enjoying himself, so I couldn't help but smile."

Opposite her, Mousse and Ranma had identical sweatdrops on the back of their heads as they stared at their hostess in disbelief. These jokes...were childish.

Kasumi didn't notice as she continued with her story.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_His laughter finally slowed a little, and Kasumi sprung again._

"_Why do you search so hard for Ranma?" _

_The laughter suddenly disappeared as Ranko fell silent._

"_I made a promise," he finally said when Kasumi started to worry that she had offended their guest._

_Kasumi was curious. "Promise?"_

_Ranko had a serious look on his face. "Yes! Oniichan and I were sad that we couldn't make many friends because we were always moving around. Any friend that we made, we had to leave behind soon after. It...was hard. We couldn't even say goodbye most of the time because we disappeared during the night. It almost felt like we were making friends with ghosts."_

_Ranko picked up a pair of jeans and pretended to brush some imaginary dust off of them. "After a while, I noticed that he was following me everywhere that I went."_

_He clipped them up before reaching into his basket again. "I finally turned around and asked him what was wrong."_

_When his hands didn't feel anything, Ranko looked down. "Oh, done with this basket," he said as he pushed his empty basket aside with a foot and ducked over to Kasumi's side to help her out. The raven haired boy picked up a blue sundress. "He told me that he was afraid that he might have to leave me behind someday." _

_He looked at the dress in his hands. "How do I hang this?"_

_Kasumi took the dress without a word and expertly attached it to the clothesline. "Go on," she prodded._

"_I didn't know what to say. So I just told him, 'Oniichan, I will never leave you,'" Ranko paused to think. "Then he asked me, 'but what if I do disappear.'" _

_Ranko paused as he tried to recall what happened next. "I sort of understood what he was so afraid of, so I looked at him and said, 'Become stronger Oniichan. Become stronger and I can't be taken away from you like all of our other friends.'"_

_Ranko stood there quietly for a few seconds. "He stared strangely at me for a moment before he nodded and walked off," he finally added._

"_Oh," Kasumi said._

_A determined look appeared on Ranko's face. "He's kept his promise, everyone's always saying how strong he has become. Now it's my turn to try and keep mine. He's testing me, I'll show him that I can keep promises too. Once I find him, I won't leave his side."_

"_I wish you luck," Kasumi cheerfully said._

_Ranko blinked before he smiled as well. "Thank you Kasumi-san."_

_The two fell silent once again._

_Kasumi was just hanging up a pair of slacks when Ranko's posture stiffened. Now he seemed to be exuding an aura of confidence and control._

"_Where the hell am I? What the hell is...clothes? I'm hanging clothes?" _

"_Welcome back Ranma-kun."_

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"So wait, he ran away everytime I appeared?" the girl asked with an angry look on her face. "And why did I complain about hanging clothes? I mean, it takes time away from my trainin but..."

Kasumi's answering laughter sounded like the tinkling of silver bells. "Of course he didn't run away whenever you appeared. You can say he had to go whenever you appeared," she explained.

Ranma took it the wrong way. "The wuss was scared of me! How can you be scared of lovable adorable me?" Ranma demanded, a vein pulsing on her forehead as she stood up and glared around angrily.

Mousse suddenly let out a suspicious cough and Ranma stopped looking around to direct her glare at him. "Okay ducky, I'm warnin' ya."

Kasumi quickly reached over and tapped the smaller girl's shoulder. "You're still injured Ranma-chan. You shouldn't be sparring with Mousse right now," the older girl quietly said. The warning in her tone was subtle but there.

Ranma froze a little before she looked up and glared at husband, "You're so lucky man..." she growled before her eyes widened in shock. W-Was Four-eyes giving her the finger? Oh, he was so dead now.

"Now, then...whenever Ran-kun was around he always accompanied me on a shopping trip," Kasumi said without noticing the antics between her two guests, "There was one time..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_Kasumi?" Soun called out as he looked away from the Go board._

_Kasumi peered out from the kitchen. "Yes father?" she asked as she dried her hands with a small towel._

"_Could you make sukiyaki tonight?" he asked, not noticing that his opponent was cleverly rearranging the pieces._

_Kasumi thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "Okay father. But I need to go to the store."_

_Soun answered her nod with one of his own. "Take your time Kasumi. I look forward to your delicious cooking." _

"_Yes father," Kasumi said as she disappeared into the kitchen to set down the hand towel before she walked out again and made her way upstairs. _

_The Tendo patriarch returned his attention to the board. "This board seems different somehow, old pal."_

_(It's all in your head) was the written reply._

_Kasumi came down a few minutes later with her purse in hand. _

_After putting on her shoes, Kasumi was just about to step out of the door when she heard someone ask, __"Kasumi-san, are you going somewhere?" _

"_Ranko-kun!" Kasumi cried out before she turned around and looked at the slightly shorter boy. "You scared me," she admitted. "Don't sneak up on people like that." she sternly reprimanded._

_Ranko grinned sheepishly. "Are you going somewhere," he repeated as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand._

_Kasumi nodded. "Yes actually. To the grocery store. Do you want to come along?"_

"_I don't know, I have been busy lately," Ranko said in a playful tone of voice._

"_It won't take long," Kasumi reassured him with a smile._

"_Then I wish to accompany you m'lady," Ranko said with a sweeping bow. Kasumi giggled as she waited for Ranko to put on his slippers and step outside._

_They had not gone far when an unexpected shower dropped upon them. It ended as quickly as it started._

_Ranko quickly adjusted her quite dry clothing before she turned back toward her companion. "Kasumi-san?" _

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"I had doubts. Whenever Ranko turned into a girl, she would disappear soon afterward. Our clothing wasn't wet enough to make us sick however, so I decided not to turn to turn around," Kasumi said as she absentmindedly swirled her teacup's contents.

**-Clonk-**

"Ow!" Mousse cried in pain. He looked to see what had hit him. A tea cup. There was only one person missing a teacup right now and she was sticking her tongue out and giving him a redeye.

Kasumi looked up from her cup to see Ranma smiling innocently at her. She smiled back. "I was lucky that time. Ranko stayed with me the entire trip," the older girl continued.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Ranko suddenly stopped in front of a game booth that was located in front of their destination._

"_Step right up! Knock over all of the milk jugs and win 100 yen! Only 50 yen for 3 attempts," the bearded announcer shouted._

_Kasumi looked over at Ranko, somewhat confused over her friend's interest in this game. The fiery haired girl turned to her, __"Can I play Kasumi-san?" she begged._

"_But we must hurry home." Kasumi said with a frown._

"_Don't worry! You go on ahead and I'll catch up to you. That'll work, right?" Ranko diplomatically asked._

"_I suppose so," Kasumi hesitantly replied._

"_Wonderful! See you in a couple!" Ranko happily said as she pushed her way through the booth. Kasumi watched the shorter girl disappear before she turned and entered the supermarket._

_Kasumi left the supermarket a few minutes later, a bit disappointed. Ranko hadn't caught up like she said she would. Kasumi made her way back to the gaming booth to collect her friend. It was just as crowded as before, but when she peered in, she realized that Ranko wasn't there._

_A loud shout of, "You're stupid. Baka! Idiot! Dumbass!" drew her attention, and Kasumi made her way over to have a look._

_**World's ultimate stress ball.  
Anger this man and win **_**¥**_**10,000. Only **_**¥**_**1000 to try.**_

_Kasumi looked at the muscular man seated in a simple wooden chair with an oddly serene look on his face. She noticed that several of the girls in the crowd were drooling._

"_He just won't anger," a bystander muttered._

_Kasumi turned back to the event. Oh, there was Ranko. And she was trying her best too._

_Ranko's face was as red as her hair as she hurled every insult that she ever knew, but her opponent's emotional armor was just too strong. Or maybe it's because Ranko used insults that were only effective against kids._

_Instead of giving up, Ranko started to use jokes. She soon had most of the crowd writhing in agony. Surprisingly, there was one man that was unaffected by the horribly obvious jokes, the one in the chair. Panting heavily from the effort, Ranko opened her mouth to try something else when a loud shout of, "Where on earth am I now?!" pierced through the crowd. _

_Ranko stopped catcalling to see Ryouga appear next to her. "Oh. Ryouga. What brings you here?" she asked as she started looking around frantically for an escape route._

"_You have 3 minutes left Miss," a seedy looking fat man on the side commented as he looked at his stopwatch._

"_Ranma! How dare you show up and laugh at me!" Ryouga roared._

"_Ranma?! Where?" the redhaired girl asked as her search for an escape route changed to a different type of search._

_Neither of them noticed the muscular man in the chair frown slightly._

_A few more opponents were needed before a crazy battle scene in Nerima could happen however. It didn't take long._

"_The lovely two-faced pigtailed girl! How good to see you here," Kuno greeted, pushing his way forward and announcing his arrival. _

_Tatewaki had not come alone. On this day, his sister had decided to accompany him on his afternoon stroll. "You hussy, unhand my Ranma-sama now!" _

_Ranko stopped looking around. "Kuno-sempai? Err, hi?" She started to back away. The crazies were here, it was time to flee._

"_Ranma, because of you I've seen hell," Ryouga roared as he held a menacing fist up to the frightened redhead._

_No one noticed the man in the chair growling loudly._

_The fireworks were ready. All that was missing was a trigger. _

_It soon arrived. "Agh! Hot!" Ranko suddenly shrieked._

"_Sorry Fake Girl! You in way," Shampoo commented from above. She closed the ramen takeout box with a malicious grin before hopping onto her bike and jumping off of the tarp covering the booth._

"_Ranma-sama!" Kodachi happily shouted._

"_You fiend! Where were you hiding?" Tatewaki demanded as he pointed his bokken at the boy on the ground covered in hot soup. The samurai was promptly tied up in a ribbon. "Unhand me, sister." he ordered._

"_Ranma-sama is not the type to hide," Kodachi angrily told her brother._

_The situation was rapidly getting out of hand. _

"_You don't understand," Ranko said as he desperately waved both hands in front of everyone. "I'm Ran-" _

_A loud __**Riiip! **__echoed through the air, causing everyone to freeze for a moment.__"So this is how you have been hiding. I will not rest until I destroy your happiness!" The man that Ranko was supposed to anger calmly said as he held the two halves of the stress ball in each hand. He threw them aside and pointed at the pigtailed boy. "Ranma! Prepare to die!" he roared. _

_The girls screamed louder, to see such animalism in such a cool guy. Wow!_

_The more sane members of the crowd started murmuring. Perhaps the stress ball wasn't as great as they had thought._

_Seeing his reputation going down the drain, the fat seedy man angrily stomped forward. Unfortunately, Ryouga also had a reason to be angry and he stepped forward as well. They ended up bumping into each other. _

_Turning to glare at each other, they came to the realization that both of them wanted the same target. The two took a moment to study each other before they slapped each other._

_It was like pairing a balloon with a battering ram. The fat man went flying to the side of the booth while Ryouga turned to grab the latest challenger by the back of the shirt, halting the man's menacing advance upon Ranko.__ "My line! You stole my line you bastard! Whoever you are, prepare to die!" Ryouga shouted throwing the man aside. He pulled off his belt and snapped it forward. It immediately stiffened. The other man landed lightly and immediately assumed a wrestling stance, completely unafraid._

_With a growl, Ryouga lunged forward._

_Thok!_

_Ryouga's sword was buried half a centimeter into Tatewaki's bokken. Ryouga glared at the interruption. The delusional samurai glared at the fanged boy in return.__ "You use your blade poorly. I cannot stand by and watch an amateur bring such dishonor to the sword."_

"_Ohohohoho, how dare you forget that we are in the middle of an argument Tatewaki!" Kodachi laughed._

_Ranko wisely stepped back as all 4 of the fighters took a step back before they lunged at each other and a large dust cloud developed. The booth was totaled in moments._

_As the dust cloud moved down the street, it continued to grow as more and more people jumped in to join the brawl._

_He started to sneak out, when he looked down. Ranko soon noticed that the ex-booth owner was trying to climb out. With a smile, he pushed the debris aside and reached down to help the man up._

_Once on his feet, the grateful fat man pulled out a small stack of bills and held it out. "H-here. This is yours."_

_Ranko happily took the prize. Giving the shorter man a bow, he walked away as the dust cloud slowly started to advance on the supermarket._

_He didn't know that Kasumi was quietly following after him. _

_Ranko soon stopped in front of a __flower store. Kasumi watched as he walked in. Walking up to the window, she watched as he talked with the shop owner for a moment._

_He walked out a bit later and Kasumi hurried over to tap him on the shoulder. Her friend jumped and turned around._

"_Oh! Kasumi-san, you startled me," Ranko said in surprise before he looked at the elegantly carved flower in his hands. "Here!" he said._

"_What's thi-Ranko-kun! I can't accept this."_

_Ranko pulled the bag of groceries from Kasumi's hands. "You looked lonely Kasumi-san. Keep it. Give it back to me when you find someone that you like."_

"_I-I," Kasumi started to protest before her face fell and her bangs hid her face. "Kasumi-chan."_

_Ranko was confused. "What?"_

_Kasumi looked up at him with a hint of red tinting her cheeks. "Call me Kasumi-chan, Ranko-kun. Kasumi-san makes me feel old."_

"_Oh. Okay, Kasumi-chan," Ranko said, oblivious to Kasumi's embarrassment. _

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"Eh? Using his winnings to give you a flower. That was nice of im. Too bad they die so quickly," Ranma commented.

Kasumi shook her head no. She pointed at the display case in the living room. "Carved flower. It wasn't actually a flower but a block of crystal carved into a delicate flower."

Ranma walked up to it. "Carving huh? I've seen one o' those. Mousse tried ta hit me with one once. It broke apart and melted during the fight." she said as she studied the shimmering clear flower within. "Weird how this is still here."

Kasumi looked over at Ranma's husband. "Ice sculpture of Poseidon from a party that Ryouga dragged us to." Mousse explained with a shrug.

The taller girl smiled happily. "It's nice to see you two getting along. Yes, ice sculptures are carved-"

Ranma waved her hand dismissively, "Forget that. If a flower doesn't die, it melts. I dunno why this isn't melting...it's magic isn't it? Eh, whatever. So what else could he do?"

"Well, he was good at cooking." Kasumi said as her smile dimmed slightly. "One day..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_This is good Kasumi," Soun said as he enjoyed today's meal._

_Kasumi smiled and shook her head no. "I'm glad you feel that way father, but I didn't make dinner today. Ranko-kun did."_

_A pair of chopsticks clattered when they fell from limp fingers onto the table. The rest of the family was frozen in place._

"_It's good because you were there to help." Ranko quickly protested._

_Kasumi shook her head no again. "You flatter me Ranko-kun. All I did was cut the vegetables," she said, her face red with embarrassment._

_Ranko wasn't about to steal all the credit. "But you cut them so thinly and evenly, it was easy to cook them, Kasumi-chan," he protested._

_A pair of chopsticks snapped in half._

"_Ka-Ka-Kasumi-CHAN?! You pervert! You seduced my sister so she would let you cook?!" Akane demanded._

_Nabiki stopped eating for a moment to say, "Hey, chill out sis." she said before she started trying to shovel food into her mouth. If this continued, the food on the table was going to disappear again._

_Ranko held his hands up placatingly. "Woah, calm down Akane-san. Why are you so quick to jump to these conclusions?"_

"_Akane-chan..." Kasumi quietly warned._

_The youngest Tendo froze momentarily before a determined look appeared on her face. "Don't worry Oneechan, I'll defend your honor," Akane said as she drew out a baseball bat._

_Ranko immediately leapt away from his seat._

"_Get back here you despicable boy!" she shouted before she let the baseball bat do the talking._

_There was a knock right when Ranko was about to run past the main entrance. Thinking that it was Ranma, he stopped and eagerly pulled it open._

"_I heard that there was an amazing cook in this house," a short man, that looked sort of resembled a boot, said to Akane as she continued to stomp upon Ranko's unconscious body with one foot._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"The visitor turned out to be a master of the food steaming school of martial arts. When Ranko finally woke up, Master Shoe had almost finished telling us about the rice cooker of legends, the super bun steamer."

"Legendary?"

"Yes, when placed on the floor, you could use it as a heated chair whenever you cooked rice." Kasumi took a sip of tea before adding, "Father decided that it would be a good thing to have. So he asked Master Shoe where he might find this steamer. The odd man immediately grinned and said that he had it at home."

Kasumi tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before she looked at her guests again. "Father eventually managed to have the man agree to a martial arts contest, and the terms were set. If Father won the Martial Arts Rice Cooking Contest, he would receive the legendary rice cooker. If he lost, he would work for the master for a month. Father then pushed Ran-kun forward to represent him," Kasumi said with a serious look before she smiled, "Ran-kun nodded and heroically took a step forward..."

Martial Arts Rice Cooking Contest? What sort of moves did Master Shoe use? Ranma eagerly interrupted. She wanted to get to the good part.

"I don't know," the taller girl admitted.

"You don't...know?" Ranma asked in surprise. "You weren't there when they fought."

Kasumi shook her head. "There was no fight."

"Huh?" Now Ranma was very confused.

"Ran-kun bowed to the man and said, 'No thank you. I must decline your challenge,'" Kasumi said. She took a sip from her teacup, not noticing the stunned look on one of her guest's faces. She lowered her cup to say, "Father wasn't ha-"

"What?!" Ranma screeched in outrage. That coward!

"So what if he didn't accept challenges?!" Kasumi shouted back just as loudly, shocking her guests.

Ranma stopped gaping like a fish to grin impishly at her friend. "Woah, You like him dontcha?"

"I-I..." Kasumi stammered, "he was nice..." she said, changing the subject as red stained her cheeks.

"So you do like him"

Kasumi's eyes widened, "No no, I mean..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_They were on another shopping trip, this time to buy clothes, Kasumi was leading the way toward the department store. She paused when she realized that he wasn't following behind her anymore. She turned to see why._

_Ranko had a cheerful smile on his face as she handed a small girl a small piece of candy. "Here you go," he said and the girl's tears dried up._

"_Thanks Mister!" the girl happily said as she promptly unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth. She ran back to the playground._

_Before Ranko could walk away, more kids ran up. Ranko gave them candy too, his smile becoming a little strained. Eventually he had to say, "I'm afraid I'm out of candy." _

"_Aww," the kids whined. They looked upset._

_Ranko quickly reached into his pocket. He pulled his hand out and looked at what he had. "Here you go, you can buy your own candy with this," he finally said as he started handing out 10 yen coins. Unfortunately, instead of shrinking, the crowd of children grew even larger._

_He was broke in seconds. "Sorry, I'm out of money and candy," Ranko hastily apologized as he tried to make his way out of the crowd. _

"_Get some more then Mister." one of the larger kids shouted as the group of children refused to let him through._

"_I can't without money," Ranko helplessly replied as the children's protests grew louder._

"_Go earn some money then!" another kid shouted._

"_..." Ranko had no reply to that, but he was beginning to look annoyed._

"_Well, what're you waiting for?" a bald kid demanded._

_He couldn't hold it in anymore. "Go away!" he roared at the assembled children, silencing them._

_They blinked stupidly at him for a moment before, "Waah! Mommmy!" they turned tail and fled._

_The adults were quick to arrive. "Excuse me? What did you just say to our angels to upset them?" Several women demanded as a group of men surrounded him with angry looks on their faces._

_The best reply would be probably be the truth since mothers tend to be really good at detecting lies. But who would be brave enough to tell both parents that their child was being very rude? This left him with only one option...stand there and look stupid. "Uh..." _

"_Wait!" Someone suddenly shouted, causing the advancing parents to pause for a moment. Those not taking part in the beatdown hurried to cover the watching children's eyes. _

_Once all of the young ones were accounted for, "Okay. Start." The pause button changed to play again._

_Kasumi! Help!" Ranko shouted as he backed away._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

Ranma had a skeptical look on her face. "Hmm...I dunno. I like nice guys, but that wussiness is really buggin' me. Eh, maybe I can beat it out of him," she said as she showed off her biceps. "Can't have a guy who's not afraid to take a hit and throw one back," she said with a proud look on her face.

"Can't have? Not afraid?" Mousse thought. Does that mean Ranma wanted a guy who was afraid to take a hit and throw one back? No no, he was thinking too much again. This kind of subtlety wasn't something that Ranma possessed.

Ranma looked at her hostess. "What else can you tell me about him?" Ranma asked with a curious look on her face.

A dark look suddenly appeared on Kasumi's face. Mousse and Ranma reared back in surprise again.

Mousse had a different reason for being startled. He had met Ranko before, and he hadn't seen anything in Ranma's counterpart that could provoke such strong emotions. From Kasumi especially. First she was defensive of him and now she was mad?

"Half a year ago," Kasumi said in a low voice as she set down her teacup with a heavy hand, "he changed."

Mousse set his cup down. That was when they had pulled Ranma out of his shell and accidentally changed his personality a little in the process. Among some of the changes, Ranma now identified himself as a girl. But how did it affect Ranko? He didn't know. The amazons had been very busy at the restaurant and Ranko didn't visit much, and usually only for a short moment.

Kasumi began her story. "I should have known when he began wearing sunglasses everywhere, even inside. It began when I was dusting down the living room..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Kasumi stopped dusting a corner. "Ranko-kun, can you help me with-" _

"_Do it yourself, you cow," the boy said without turning away from the TV._

"_What?" Kasumi asked in surprise. Had she heard correctly?_

_Ranko turned away from the TV to glare at her. "Yeah, you heard correctly you old hag. Do it yourself, my time isn't free y'know?" The boy said before he returned his gaze to the TV._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

The table shook slightly. "That bastard!" Ranma snarled as she pulled her fist back. "Don't worry Kasumi-chan! Once I find him, I'll bring him here and make him apologize to you. You might be old-"

"I'm sorry?" Kasumi asked.

"Err, I mean...You're younger than Ma and prettier than Mousse here," Ranma quickly said.

"I'm glad that you feel that way..." Kasumi hesitantly replied.

Ranma looked desperately at her husband.

Mousse sighed. As long as they were still together. "My wife is saying that you're still young like a spring blossom and just as lovely, Kasumi-san."

"Yeah!" Ranma shouted before she leapt over the table and hugged Mousse's arm. She turned her head toward Kasumi as she hung off of her husband. "I'd go for ya if I didn't have Mousse here," she added.

"Get off Ranma." Mousse growled.

"Oh," Kasumi said while the redhead stubbornly clung to her husband as he struggled to shove her off. While they were busy, Kasumi had tried to refill the cups, except there was no tea left inside of the teapot. She started to stand.

Mousse immediately reached out to grab Kasumi's arm. Ranma's teeth clicked as she tried to bite the retreating hand that had plagued her moments earlier.

Both girls were now looking at Mousse. One in confusion, the other in anger. "Ranma." the Chinese boy growled.

"Yes...Honey?" the girl said with a voice that dripped of venom.

"Fill up the teapot," he ordered.

"Why can't you?" the redhead growled back.

"You were the one that's responsible for draining out most of it when you made that mess earlier," her husband nonchalantly pointed.

"Wait. As your host. this should be my duty." Kasumi quickly said.

"No Kasumi-chan. Mousse is right," Ranma quickly said before she turned to Mousse. "I'll take care of it," she scowled at him as she pulled the teapot from her friend's hand. She left the living room soon after, leaving Mousse alone in the room with Kasumi.

Soon there was a splash and a yelp of pain before the sink started running. Presumably with cold water.

Mousse stared at the remaining person in the room. Kasumi looked distraught, he noticed, so this would not be a good time to ask...but curiosity won out. "What you just told us...that didn't happen did it?"

Kasumi immediately broke into tears, causing Mousse to panic. He hadn't intended for his question to have such a dramatic effect.

"I try so hard to tell myself that he was wicked and evil in the end, but it just won't work!" Kasumi said through her tears.

***Bonk***

"Ow! Dammit Ranma!" Mousse roared at the redhead standing behind him.

Ranma pulled her fist back. "I leave you for a minute and the girls start crying over you." she coldly said. The anger evaporated. "What? Is there somethin' on my face?"

Mousse quickly turned away from the pigtailed girl to look at their host. "Kasumi-san. Tell her the truth. Tell her what Ranko was like before he disappeared."

Ranma blinked. "Eh?"

"Don't dishonor his memories."

Kasumi looked downcast. But her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked up with a determined expression.

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_Ranko-kun, can you help me with..."_

"_Do it yourself you cow," was the answering reply as Ranko turned away from the TV._

"_What?" Kasumi whispered, her eyes wide with surprise._

_Ranko had a surprised look on his face as well._

"_I'm sorry Kasumi-san. I don't know what came over me. How can I help?" he said with a chastised tone of voice._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"He looked so upset," Kasumi quietly said as she stared outside. When a warm breeze blew in, and pushed lightly against her long brown hair, she continued...

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_Ranko."_

_The distraught boy stopped pulling on the couch to look at her._

"_Why did the chicken cross the road?" Kasumi asked._

_He had heard this joke before. "To get to the other side?" _

"_No silly, that is what would have happened if the chicken had not decided to turn around and head back." she paused. "Because the chicken did not cross the road, there is no answer."_

"_..." For a moment, nothing happened. _

_Then, "Pfff...wahahahaha! G-great one K-Kasumi!" he said, his sadness and seriousness disappearing in an instant. _

_Kasumi stood to the side with a demure smile as she patiently waited for his laughter to die down. It was quicker than normal. _

_Ranko was soon able to breathe again. He looked at his best friend with __a serious gaze in his eye. "Kasumi-san?" he said as he took one of her hands in both of his._

"_Yes Ranko-kun?" Kasumi asked in bewilderment. Ranko was usually never this serious._

"_I have a request. Can you call me Ran-kun?" he said with a determined look._

_Kasumi looked at his determined expression for a long moment before she smiled. "Okay, Ran-kun."_

"_Thanks," he said with a beaming smile._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"Ranko was a little different. His continual use of sunglasses wasn't hard to adjust to. But his actions were somewhat confusing," Kasumi absentmindedly said as she continued to gaze outside.

"How so?" Mousse asked.

"Well...he was still somewhat shy and indecisive, but he seemed to act more impulsively," Kasumi carefully said.

"Hey!" Ranma shouted as she suddenly found herself bound in chains again.

"Impetuous. That sounds like Ranma here." Mousse said as he slapped the redhead hard on the back before leaping away.

There was a clank as the redhead fell to the floor because she was unable to use her arms or legs to catch herself.

She growled and tried to perform her famous lunging earthworm technique, except the links that bound her happened to be anchored to the floor. Literally. She landed flat on her face when the ship's anchor failed to budge. Raising her head, she growled and snapped at Mousse as she struggled to sink her teeth into his leg. He was so close!

Kasumi smiled at their attempts to cheer her up. She started to reminisce out loud again. "If there was one thing that remained the same however...he still had that cheerful grin that could make anyone happy..."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

_Kasumi hesitantly stepped up to the door before she knocked._

_It slid open and Ranko peered outside._

_Kasumi had a blank look on her face._

"_Kasumi-san! I was...uh...about to go find you. If it was about that flower that I gave you earlier today, I really meant it. But I'm sorry that it upset you," the boy apologized._

_Kasumi wasn't listening. Instead she held something out. "Here."_

"_What's this?" Ranko asked curiously as he looked at the covered object in her hands._

"_The crystal flower that you gave me."_

_Ranko pulled off the cover in curiosity. It really was! "Oh, have you found someone already?" he asked as he looked up._

_Kasumi froze for a moment. _

"_Kasumi?"_

"_Yes," the eldest Tendo daughter finally said with a decisive nod._

"_That's wonderful! I wish you luck in attracting his attention." Ranko said as he reached out to take the flower._

_Kasumi quickly pulled the flower to her chest and retreated a few steps. "It's you. Ran-kun."_

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"What?!" Ranma and Mousse shouted in surprise.

"That's exactly what Ran-kun said," Kasumi said with a smile. A curious look appeared on her face. "Why is everyone so surprised? Am I really that old?" she asked as her face fell.

Ranma and Mousse leapt into action. "No no no! Not that Kasumi-chan! It was just..."

"unexpected." Mousse interjected.

"Yeah! Very unexpected!"

"Unexpected?" Kasumi asked.

"You're interested in older men, right?" Mousse quickly said.

"Yes..." Kasumi said with a hesitant nod before she fixed the two in front of her with a bittersweet smile. "...But I like Ran-kun."

- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -

"_Ran-kun? Is something wrong?" Kasumi asked as she appeared next to the boy staring into the koi pond._

"_Kasumi. I'm thinking about going to China to get rid of this curse," Ranko replied as she looked up at Kasumi with an honest face._

"_..." Kasumi waited patiently to hear him out._

"_How can I be your boyfriend if I turn into this," she asked as she gestured at herself._

_Kasumi immediately threw some warm water on him._

"_I don't mind. I rather like both sides of you," she optimistically said as she sat down next to him._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

Ranma gagged. "Agggh! Too sappy!"

She quickly hid her tongue when Mousse reached forward.

"Don't worry Ranma-chan," Kasumi quietly said, "Ran-kun was about to reply when Akane stepped out of the house with a cat in her hands. It jumped right onto Ran-kun and he ran off."

Kasumi fell silent.

"Kasumi-chan?" Ranma finally said.

The older girl looked at them with a bittersweet expression.

***********

She had one more story to tell them for the day, and it wasn't a happy one.

The silence after that one was unbearable. Surprisingly, of the three there, the most patient one was the first to break it.

"Please," Kasumi finally said. "I wish to be alone. Come and visit another time?"

Sensing that this wasn't the time to comfort the older girl, Mousse and Ranma stood up. "Until next time then," they said with a bow before they made their way for the door.

***********

"Poor Kasumi-san," Mousse said as he followed after Ranma.

He saw her pivot 90 degrees. "Hey, Ranma. Home is that way," he snidely shouted as he pointed in the right direction.

"I'm gonna help Kasumi-san find Ranko," Ranma shouted back before she bound off.

Mousse watched her disappear before he shrugged and continued toward the Saotome home.

-o-o-(Several Days Later)-o-o-

Mousse opened the house door. He thought he had heard a knock.

He let out an uff when something bowled into him.

"Ranma?" he asked, surprised at seeing the short girl hugging him so desperately. She looked awful. Bags under her eyes, a filthy appearance, her normally bright red hair a dull shade of brown...

"Mousse! I can't find him! I've searched everwhere, but no one has seen him recently. Several people even looked at me funny before they started throwin' hot water at me," she mumbled into his chest.

Mousse sighed. While he didn't like her, he hated seeing her like this. "You won't be able to find him Ranma," he said as he looped an arm around her.

Ranma pressed herself tightly against her husband before she tearfully looked up at him. "Why?!" she desperately cried.

Mousse sighed again. He was going to have to alter this story a little.

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_After being hung up for a moment (not literally of course), Mousse finally returned to the Nekohanten to see that the front door seemed to be...perfectly fine._

_Fearing the worst, he waited for someone to pull the door open before he flew into the Cat Cafe quacking "Shampoo!"_

_He was just about to land when his danger sense flared, and he desperately flapped his wings like his life depended on it. It did. He narrowly avoided being sliced into several different sections by a pigtailed boy under the Nekoken._

"_You...imbecile. You stop attacking me to destroy a bird?" Herb growled before plowing into the distracted pseudo-cat with terrific force._

_Ranko went rolling, before he crashed into a conveniently placed pail of water. She groaned before slowly picking herself up, having broken out of the Nekoken by the shock of the change._

"_...Heh. Interesting." The woman said with a satisfied smirk before she turned to one of her subordinates. "Mint, the ladle."_

"_Yes Herb!" the boy (that had not defeated him earlier) hurried to obey._

"_Herb! What are you-" Cologne started to demand._

_**Splash**_

"_Hey," the victim of the ladle shouted as she covered her face from the spray._

"_Consider yourself lucky that I spared your life," Herb coldly said as she turned away. "Lime, Mint, let's go," she ordered._

"_Yes Herb," the two quickly said._

_The three walked out onto the brightly lit streets of Nerima._

"_Wait!" Ranko shouted as she got to her feet._

- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -

"Despite Cologne's warnings, Ranko chased after Princess Herb anyway. That was the last time anyone had ever seen him," Mousse concluded.

"Mousse..." Ranma whispered.

Her face changed to a menacing one as she struggled to push his arm away. "...if you even think of telling anyone about this, I'm gonna..." she left the threat hanging. She quickly used the back of her wrist to angrily wipe the tears out of her eyes.

"Yeah yeah," the longhaired man carelessly replied. He wasn't worried. What was she going to do, make his life a living hell?

A thoughtful look appeared on Ranma's face. "If you knew what happened to Ranko, why didn't you tell Kasumi-chan?"

Damn! Mousse quickly grasped for another lie. "Because, I didn't want to burden her. As long as she thinks that Ranko is okay wherever he is, she'll be fine." he said, taking advantage of one of Kasumi's earlier comments from a few days ago.

"Yeah, wouldn't wanna tell Kasumi-chan that Ranko was kidnapped." Ranma mumured before she looked up, "So if I search for this Herb chick, I'll find Ranko?"

Mousse shook his head. "Don't even think about it, Ranma, it's too dangerous. Cologne even warned us not to."

Ranma had a skeptical look on her face. "The Ghoul said no?" she asked before stars appeared in her eyes. "Now I really wanna see how strong this Herb chick can be."

"Ranma, she's in China right now," Mousse said, trying a different avenue attack.

She slumped down. "Oh, that's a problem," Ranma said. "You haven't swam across the Sea of Japan before."

She suddenly sat up. "But you have a duck form. I'll letcha ride on my head. Lemme grab pops and we'll take her on together," she promptly ran from the room.

"Ranma!" Mousse shouted after her.

* * *

Chapter Preview:

"What? What do you mean this isn't the end of Chapter 3?"

**Next up: Chapter 3se1, 3se2, 3se3 - Special Editions: Missing Scenes**

Jya'n

* * *

Dual Identity Disorder (DID) Summary. See next section for prose form

**Before the Mix Up**  
Ranma - Male  
- Changes to Ranko when he realizes that he's a girl.  
- Changes to Ranko when splashed with water

Ranko - Female  
- Reverts to Ranma when she's relaxed  
oo - Ranko does not stay out long as a girl.  
oo - It is possible for Ranma to appear in guy form if Ranko becomes very relaxed in guy form.

**After the Mix Up (Simply Put, a Gender Flip)**  
Ranma - Female  
- Ironically, Changes to Ranko when she realizes that she's a guy.  
- Changes to Ranko when splashed with water 

Ranko - Male  
- Reverts to Ranma when he's relaxed.  
oo - Ranko does not stay out long as a guy.  
oo - It is possible for Ranma to appear in girl form if Ranko becomes very relaxed in girl form

* * *

Ranko's gender? Female then male.

In the beginning, Ranko sees herself as female. However, while she identifies herself as a girl, she cannot exist long as one. This is because Ranko appears whenever Ranma is feeling threatened about his gender. She is his sanity shield and his sign to return. As long as she feels uncomfortable, Ranma will not appear. Hence the title, "Hidden Behind the Looking Glass." Anyway, as a guy, Ranko will continue to have a vague feeling of wrongness. It's enough to keep Ranma away, but not enough to be irritating. As a girl however, this wrongness isn't there, and Ranma will eventually appear.

It is possible for Ranma to appear when Ranko is in male form however...Ranko likes to help out because it relaxes him/her. Essentially, If she gets too relaxed in male form, Ranma will pop up. There is another way to make Ranma appear in guy form. Have Ranko to go to bed as a guy. Sleep, wake up, as long as it isn't Akane in charge of the wakeup call, voila! Ranma as a guy.

After the mix up, Ranma's masculinity bounced over to Ranko's side. Ranko now sees himself as male. Funnily enough, it irritates him to hear the name Ranko. If becoming a girl bothers Ranko enough, Ranma can be forcefully pulled out.

After the mix up of the two sides, because Ranma now identifies herself as a girl, taking off her clothes and looking at her body, will not trigger a personality swap anymore. Ironically, she has to change into a guy to make Ranko appear.

* * *

Story Notes:

(1) For those that watch Hayate no Gotoku, look familiar?

I did it twice for parallelism, Akane bashing, and a bit of humor.

Iono about you, but those kids are a bit too smart. Jeez, kids these days, understanding what earning money means. Sigh...

And those parents? Irresponsible! Blah!

In this story, Ranma has a crazy amount of selective memory. That's why he often doesn't realize he is a girl when in girl form. And don't argue with me or I'll point out Akane and her P-chan obsession. Or Kuno and his pigtailed girl obsession. When something happens to you to make you loony, you have to adapt somehow.

Ranko's relationship with Kasumi could not advance until after the mix up. Before then, she only saw Kasumi as an older sister. After the mix up, she started to see Kasumi as a girl.

Regular Notes:

Another near 40 page chapter. I dunno why a 5 page outline grows 7-8 times in size but it's really starting to tick me off.

**Acknowledgements:**

**Howard Russell** for writing an interesting review. Next time gimme a brain dump. Takes less time and it's easier to extract information. Also thanks to Howard Russell for pointing out that BPD was actually DID.

**Daniel Jess Gibson** for offering a superlong interesting story on his homepage. I've also been studying the structure a little.

***********

Ming: "Gaah! So hot and sleepy!"  
Shun: "Buck up! Your next chapter has only been outlined."  
Ming: "So I have to draft it and write it?"  
Shun: "And revise it!"  
Ming: "What?!"  
Shun: "I'm heading to Taiwan this summer."  
Ming: "But I have to write a Thesis too."  
Shun: "Poor readers. Well then, we don't own Ranma. There. That's said. I now leave everything in your capable hands. Bai bai!"

Ming: "Wait!"

List of available characters!#$&()-+/\®©


	5. Ch3SE1: Missing Scenes Part 1 of 3

_Some of Ranko's traits comes from "Am I Pretty? Ranma's Declaration of Womanhood."_

Hidden Behind the Looking Glass

by MingShun

***********

* * *

***********

Interlude:

These are a collection of scenes that were planned but not put in. One reason is because whoever was telling the story would not add it in because it isn't something that they know. Another reason is that there is something in there that cannot be said to Ranma. Anyway, you'll find this collection of scenes to be useful in ways because they offer a different POV of things.

As always, I don't own Ranma. Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and I'm just borrowing her work in this piece of fiction which I will no use for financial gain.

***********

* * *

***********

Chapter 3 Special Edition: Missing Scenes 1. 

Scene 1: (Ranma/Ranko/Kasumi) Helpfulness Comparison

Scene 2: (Ranma/Ranko/Kasumi) Water Spraying Antics

Scene 3: (Ranko/Kasumi/Nabiki.) I Spy

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 1: Ranma, Ranko, and Kasumi. Helpfulness comparison.

***********

The pigtailed girl blinked once before she quickly scanned her surroundings.

"Wha? Where am I?" she mumbled before she caught sight of a familiar face. "Ah! Kasumi-san. Whatcha doin' here? You look like you need help."

"No, that's okay," Kasumi said with a strained smile as she struggled to hold a totem pole upright.

"Ah, k'," Ranma said as she watched Kasumi struggle for a moment longer.

She finally couldn't take it anymore. Walking up to the totem pole, she looped an arm around the thick trunk before using her free hand to gently push Kasumi aside.

She was ready.

Wrapping both arms around the pole, she paused for a moment before lifting it up and promptly slamming it into the ground with a loud **Bwuhd.**

Ranma let go and took a step back to proudly observe her handiwork.

Kasumi was just about to thank the redhead when a loud crack drew their attention. To their surprise and horror, they watched as a large split started traveling up the pole. Soon it branched out into a multitude of smaller cracks.

In a matter of moments, one girl found herself buried under woodchips when the entire thing crumbled into dust.

Ranma's head popped out moments later. "Haha, oops." she said as she pulled herself out of the pile and walked off.

Kasumi watched her go.

_Some time later..._

Ranko, in guy form, stopped watching TV to turn and ask, "Can I help Kasumi-san?"

Kasumi gave the boy a large smile before she nodded. The two went outside, and together they managed to lift one of three large trash bags. A woodlike smell remained as the two dragged the bag away.

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 2: Ranma, Ranko, and Kasumi. Water Spraying Antics

***********

"Where the hell am I? What the hell is...clothes? I'm hanging clothes?"

Kasumi lowered the blouse that she was holding. "Oh, Ranma-kun. If you would, please return that to the hamper?" she asked, feeling a bit irritated.

Ranma shrugged and tossed the pants into the basket before he turned around and started to stalk off. He didn't see the water faucet that was in his path when he kicked it.

**Fwee! **Ranma turned to see the small spray come out from beneath the faucet head.

In moments, it rocketed off and clocked him on the forehead. Without anything to hold the water in, a stream of water shot out of the garden spigot moments later.

"Help! Kasumi-san!" a redheaded girl sputtered as she struggled to control the uncontrollable water.

Kasumi stopped staring at the scene in surprise. "I'll have the water off in a moment Ranko-chan," she quickly said as she hurried back to the house to find the water main.

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 3: Ranko, Nabiki, and Kasumi. I spy.

***********

It all began with Soun asking his daughter, "could you make sukiyaki tonight?"

Ranko was upstairs reading a Manga that he had borrowed earlier when he heard Kasumi's near silent footsteps making their way upstairs. They seemed a little heavier and quicker than normal. Curious, he slowly slid the guest room door open and peered outside.

He saw Kasumi standing in front of Nabiki's room. When Nabiki's door opened, and Kasumi stepped inside, Ranko waited for the door to close before he quickly snuck over.

***********

"For Sukiyaki tonight, huh?" Nabiki asked, seeking confirmation from her sister.

"Yes," Kasumi's voice filtered through the closed door.

"Knowing how much the Saotome's eat, I'm surprised you aren't asking for more money Sis," the younger sister deadpanned.

"I can't. It would not be fair to you Nabiki"

There was a momentary pause. "It's fine. Here." There was some shuffling from the other end.

"No Nabiki, this is too much," he heard Kasumi refuse.

"Don't worry about it. Things have been going well these last few weeks."

"I-I'll pay you back."

"You don't have to, Sis."

"I insist."

Ranko heard Nabiki sigh. "Fine, I expect the money back in a week."

"Thank you Nabiki. You're very kind."

It was silent for a moment. "No I'm not," the middle Tendo sister replied.

***********

Ranko quickly hid when he heard footsteps approach.

From inside of the guest room, he watched through the small slit as the door to Nabiki's room opened and Kasumi stepped out. When Kasumi made her way downstairs, he quickly crawled over to the stairs and peered over the edge. He saw Kasumi getting ready to leave. He quickly made his way down.

Kasumi was just about to step out the door when he reached the bottom step. "Kasumi-san, are you going somewhere?" he quickly asked.

***********

The crystal flower wasn't cheap, but he still had some yen hidden away from his father.

After checking behind a picture hanging on the wall at the end of the hallway, Ranko sighed. "Dammit father." he cursed as he pulled out what was left.

Just enough, hopefully.

***********

"What's this for?" Nabiki asked as she regarded the money in the pigtailed boy's hands.

Said boy shrugged. "You know."

A smirk appeared on Nabiki's face. "No I don't."

"Oh? Well then, in that case..." he started to pull the money back.

Nabiki quickly seized the money and ripped it out of his hands. "Hang on, I really don't know what this money is for, Ranko-san."

"Kasumi-san."

Confusion remained for a moment longer before surprise dawned on her face, "You were listening?" she asked, assuming a calm look. While she wasn't accusing him directly, the cold subtle undertones were there.

Ranko blinked. "Listening?" he asked. "Would I do that?"

Nabiki narrowed her eyes at him, "Hmm, yes, I suppose it would be too much of a coincidence if you somehow managed to discover one of the few times when Kasumi has a debt...by something as simple as listening."

Ranko nodded. "Yes, that's correct."

Nabiki tapped her chin thoughtfully before she decided. "You're lying, Ranko-san. But I'm in a good mood so I'll let you off this time," she said as she tucked the money under her pillow.

"I honestly have no idea what you are talking about," the pigtailed boy shrugged in response.

The smirk returned to Nabiki's face. "Yeah, I suppose you don't. So what do you need me for?"

"I need you to sneak that money into Kasumi's reserve."

Nabiki was impressed. "To the point," she commented before she leaned forward. "It's going to cost you."

"Take it out from whatever is in your hands," Ranko simply said.

"This isn't enough," Nabiki said as she showed her empty hands.

"I believe that whatever is beneath your pillow doesn't count either?"

When Nabiki grinned predatorially, Ranko just sighed and leaned forward. "Okay Nabiki-san," he started to say...

***********

Kasumi had an odd feeling that someone had entered her room today. Her gaze zeroed in on the ornamental board at the head of her bed. Pulling it aside, she quickly checked the small stash of money hidden behind it.

She frowned.

***********

Kasumi dropped a small stack of money upon Nabiki's desk.

Nabiki stopped writing in her notebook to look up at Kasumi. "So you noticed," she calmly said. "Never could pull a fast one over you sis."

"I would appreciate if you do not try this again," Kasumi quietly replied.

"Sure thing, sis," Nabiki said as she adopted a chagrined look.

***********

Kasumi left her room soon after. Nabiki returned to her notebook, but her mind just wasn't in it. After a few minutes of not writing anything, she put her pen down and picked up the small stack of money. After counting the bills, she grinned. "Putting in twice as much. That was a good suggestion Ranko-san."

***********

* * *

***********

Preview for the Next Chapter:

"Fight Ranko! Fight!"

**Next Up: Missing Scenes Chapter 2**

***********


	6. Ch3SE2: Missing Scenes Part 2 of 3

_Ranko is Ranma's shield. When Ranma hides away for some reason, Ranko is left over to take up the reins until the main personality returns._

Hidden Behind the Looking Glass  
by Tama Saga

* * *

These are a collection of scenes that were planned but not put in. The reason is because the one telling the story would not add it in because it's not something that they know, or there is something in them that cannot be said to Ranma. Anyway, you'll find this collection of scenes to be useful in ways because they offer a different POV of things.

* * *

Chapter 3:  
Missing Scenes: Part 2/3

* * *

Scene 4: (Ranko) Gaming Booth Hijinx

Scene 5: (Ranma/Kasumi/Soun/Cologne.) After Ranko encountered Herb

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 4: Ranko. Gaming Booth Hijinx

***********

Ranko stared at the gaming booth. She wanted to pay Kasumi back for the food that her family consumed. This seemed like an ideal way to earn the money. She had heard that the milk jugs were often weighted, making them hard to knock over...

...But she knew she was a bit stronger than most guys, even when she was a girl. It should be easy...

...But father was always telling Oniichan that a Martial Artist must be humble. One cannot be serious about the art if one intends to use it to show off...

...But she needed money.

And besides, she wasn't the martial artist. Oniichan was.

She turned to her companion. "Can I play Kasumi?" she begged.

"But we must hurry home." the older girl replied with a frown.

Ranko was about to give in when she looked at the reward. Her eyes narrowed and her resolve firmed. "Don't worry! You go on ahead and I'll catch up to you. That'll work, right?" she asked in a way that suggested that she had never tried a carnival game before and she really really wanted to play.

"I suppose so," came the hesitant reply.

Ranko cheered inwardly. "Wonderful! See you in a couple!" she happily said as she pushed her way through the booth.

***********

"I'll play," Ranko said as she confidently stepped up to the counter and casually placed a 50 yen coin down.

"Don't bother," someone from the crowd whispered to her. "The game is rigged."

"It's okay," Ranko said with a reassuring smile before she picked up one of the three large white whiffle balls that were placed in front of her.

She eyed the trio of milk bottles stacked in a pyramid shape some distance away from her. Two at the bottom and one at the top.

The crowd leaned forward in anticipation. It seemed like this girl knew what she was doing.

Ranko reared back and threw the ball as hard as she could.

***Crash!***

A trio of milk bottles had fallen over.

The crowd was stunned speechless. Then they started laughing. Ranko had missed so badly she interfered with someone else's game.

"That doesn't count," the stand owner said, sweating slightly at seeing such a flimsy-looking girl knock over all three bottles so easily. It was usually difficult to knock even one over. He moved to the other table to restack the bottles for the other annoyed participant.

Ranko nodded as she picked up another whiffle ball.

*Pok!*

It bounced right off of her table. The milk bottles shook slightly, but none of them fell.

Undeterred, Ranko picked up the final whiffle ball.

*Thud*

The heavy canvas covering the back of the stand rapidly drifted back down to its original spot once Ranko's last attempt bounced off and fell to the ground, expended of energy.

Ranko immediately slapped down another 50 yen coin. The stand owner hesitated before taking the coin and handing over another three hollow white balls.

Ranko tried again.

Aside from knocking the topmost milk bottle off of the pyramid, this round wasn't much better than the first. The annoyed crowd started to walk away. Nothing to see here but a freakishly strong girl with poor aim.

She placed another 50 yen coin. The standowner confidently handed over another three balls after readding the last milk bottle.

***Crash!***

"Yatta!"

Ranko shouted aloud when she finally managed to knock over all three milk bottles. Most of her enthusiasm disappeared when she saw the pair of 50 yen coins returned to her.

Picking them up, Ranko paused to eye them. 100 yen from 150 yen. This wasn't fast enough, did she really want to keep trying?

That was when she heard someone hawking off to the side. "Step right up! Anger this man and earn 10,000 yen."

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 5: Ranko, Kasumi, Soun, Cologne. After Ranko encountered Herb

***********

The sky was dark when Ranko arrived at the gate to the Tendo Compound.

Kasumi opened the door. "Ranma?" she asked when she saw the busty redhead under the dim lighting.

Ranko cocked her head. "Ranko actually," she finally replied.

"Sorry Ran-kun," Kasumi quickly apologized.

Ranko just smiled and nodded.

Kasumi returned the smile before a confused look appeared on her face. "Please forgive me again," she said. "But why are you here this late at night? Is there a problem? Are you in trouble?"

Ranko shook her head no. "I was just visiting, Kasumi."

"You seem worried, why?" Kasumi pushed.

When there was no reply...

"You don't have to answer Ran-kun if you don't want to," Kasumi quietly said with a graceful smile as she beckoned the redhead in. "Please, come in. Father wouldn't mind."

"No, no. I'll answer," Ranko said as she looked away, red tinting her cheeks from embarrassment. "I-I keep feeling like this will be the last time that I see you." she mumbled.

The harsh news flew right over Kasumi's head. "Don't be silly Ran-kun. Father is here, he'll protect us from danger," she optimistically said as she wrapped a protective arm around the smaller girl and pulled her inside.

***********

"Father, Ranko has come to visit for the night," Kasumi called into the house as the two pulled off their footwear.

"Welcome Ranko-kun. Please make yourself at home," Soun said as he appeared right beside the duo and patted the shorter girl heavily on the back, knocking the wind out of her.

Gasping for breath, Ranko barely heard Kasumi's father ask, "Would you care to have a game against a lonely old man?"

Ranko looked over at her friend. Kasumi just smiled and said, "I'm afraid that all we have are leftovers. But if you promise to eat carefully, I will allow you to have dinner while you play against father."

"Of course, Kasumi!" Ranko cheerfully replied before she turned to Soun. "I would be delighted to join you in a game, Tendo-san," she said.

"Let's begin then." the Tendo patriarch happily said. "Would Go suit you?"

When Ranko nodded, Soun turned to his daughter. "Kasumi, could we have some tea as well?"

"Of course father," the eldest Tendo daughter replied with a graceful bow before she left to fulfill everyone's request.

***********

Kasumi sat on the side, sipping tea as she watched the two play. Halfway into the game, she picked up her empty cup up and left the room.

"Ran-kun, the bath is ready," Kasumi said when she returned, a tray of cookies in her hand.

"Ah, okay Kasumi," Ranko said before she returned her gaze to the board. She stared at it for several moments. "It looks like you win, Tendo-san."

Soun frowned. "It's too soon to tell, Ranko-kun. If you didn't want to play..."

Ranko quickly shook her head. "No look Tendo-san, you were ready to capture this group." she said as she pointed at a large group of black pieces near the edge of the board. "To defend against your capture, I would need to surround this piece," she pointed at a white piece bordering the aforementioned pieces. "But to do so, I would sacrifice my defense for this larger group. Had we continued playing, it would soon fall to your forces. Either loss would be a critical blow to my side."

Soun looked at the board for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, your assessment makes sense, Ranko-kun. However, up to this point, your defense has been extraordinarily solid. I have no doubts that even with the loss of either group, you will find a way to restore your territory before the game ends." he looked up. "We must continue after your bath," he declared.

"Tendo-san, I'm sorry, but I would like to spend a bit of time with Kasumi-san tonight instead," Ranko said, lightly deflecting Soun's request.

Soun frowned and then nodded, apparently satisfied by the game. "Very well. Perhaps we can finish this game tomorrow then."

"Of course, Tendo-san. Tomorrow," Ranko said with a polite bow before she stood up and followed Kasumi out of the room.

***********

There was a splash, Ranko shivered slightly from the cold water.

Now clean, she set down the bucket and stood up before making her way to the steaming furo.

***********

A loud scream shook the Tendo home.

"What's wrong Ranko-kun," Soun shouted as he slid the door open and entered the room. All he saw was Ranko's backside.

Kasumi peered in soon after. She gasped and hastily made her way to the furo before sticking her hand in.

"It's hot, Kasumi," Ranko said as she turned around. "The water is hot, but I didn't change. Why?!"

Before the others could react, there was the tapping sound of wood meeting wood. Cologne soon entered the room with Mousse and Shampoo close behind her. Nabiki and Akane showed up right behind the three newcomers.

"I was afraid this would happen," the whithered crone said as she hopped over to the one in the bathtub without slipping once. An amazing feat considering the floor was wet and she was on a staff with a pointed end on the ground.

"Do you know what is going on, Elder?" Kasumi asked as Nabiki stood on the side of the furo and scooped up some water before teasingly splashing the redhead despite her protests.

"I believe so," Cologne replied before she turned to look at Ranko. "I noticed that when Herb splashed you, she used a ladle."

"Who is Herb?" Akane interrupted. The rest of the Tendos were just as confused.

"Herb is the leader of the Musk Dynasty, a group of men who have forsaken their humanity to embrace their more beastial side," the Amazon matriarch explained, before her eyes narrowed. "If that ladle is what I think it is, Ranko must be in a more dangerous situation than I thought. "

"What's so special about the ladle?"

"The ladle," Cologne began, "is a special artifact of the Musk. Water ladled out of it becomes mystical, with the power to lock the form of those cursed by Jusenkyou. The Musk Dynasty used it on animals that were cursed with Nyannichuan...so that they would remain women forever."

"Remain women forever?" the entire group thought, surprised. The hardest hit by this news was Ranko, but Kasumi was a close second.

"Isn't there a cure," Ranko asked desperately.

"I am afraid not," Cologne swiftly replied. Ranko seemed to collapse into herself.

"What aren't you telling us, Elder Kuh Lon?" Nabiki asked.

Cologne shot the middle Tendo daughter a sharp look, causing Nabiki to turn away. "It is for your own good that you do not know."

Ranko was not so easily deterred. "What, what is it?!" she hysterically demanded.

Cologne hesitated for a brief moment before she sighed. Now that the cat was out of the bag. "There is another Musk Artifact, the open water kettle. It is said that water boiled in this kettle can be used to lift the lock caused by the locking ladle."

Cologne hopped over to the door before turning to address the entire group. "Because of China's turbulent history, this kettle has been lost for centuries now. However, rumor has it that it is currently located somewhere in Japan. Herb is here to seek out the kettle. I do not know why now of all times, but I must ask you not to seek out the kettle as well. "

"Why?"

"In order for you to use the kettle, you would need to defeat Herb," Cologne paused, knowing that the audience was hanging on her every word. She narrowed her eyes and stared piercingly at Ranko. "You have no chance."

Ranko let out a helpless cry. It felt like she was skewered by a bamboo pike. She fell forward as if she had just died, her head plunging into the water from the motion.

Cologne turned around. "Mousse, Shampoo," she barked. "We leave now."

***********

It was when they turned a corner and the Tendo Dojo disappeared from view that Cologne finally said, "We will return to China in a month."

"Aiyah!" Shampoo shouted, surprised from the news. "What about Ranma training?"

"We will do all that we can to remove the fear of cats. However, if things happen the way that I expect, this happening will be most fortuitous."

"Why Great-Grandmother?"

"You ask many questions child," Cologne sternly said before a scary grin appeared on her face. "To answer your question, we will not need to try and join Ranko with Ranma anymore."

She cackled loudly into the night, scaring several cats away in the process.

It should be mentioned that the inhabitant in the chasm not only prevented Ranma and Ranko from becoming one personality, it also heightened her fear of cats to the point that figurines of cats could scare her into the Nekoken. It was a frustrating setback that had tried the elder's patience many times...

***********

* * *

***********

Preview for the Next Chapter:

An explosion rocked the house.

"Get Akane out of the kitchen!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Who's in the kitchen then?"

Another explosion blasted out a chunk of the kitchen wall.

On the floor, with a dazed expression on her face...

"Ranma?!"

**Next Up: Missing Scenes Chapter 3**

***********

A/N:

Because Ranko is in Ranma's body, she's stronger, faster, and tougher than most people. However, muscle memory can only take you so far...and Ranko has no memory of actual training. Consequently, her hand-eye coordination is poor. So is her balance, timing, and control.

After Ranko met Herb, she (he) left the Cat Cafe and wandered around until night fell. Remember that she's (he's) homeless and has nowhere to go? She (he) finally decided that if the feeling that was bothering her (him) were to come to pass, she (he) should spend it with friends.

It's not that I'm writing fillers because I ran out of material. Chapter 4 is already planned out and is being drafted as we speak. There's a purpose to these fillers though.


	7. Ch3SE3: Missing Scenes Part 3 of 3

_Kasumi works so hard for others that she deserves some happiness. I wish I could give it to her...  
- Ranko_

Hidden Behind the Looking Glass  
by Tama Saga

I like these, they're fun to write. Much less time-demanding as well. But eh...this is the last one. Okay, time to gear up for the big one. But I'm sure you'll enjoy these in the meantime.

I don't own Ranma. The characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm wish to borrow them for a story which I don't intend to profit from.

* * *

Chapter 3:  
Missing Scenes: Part 3/3

* * *

Scene 6: (Kasumi/Ranko/Ranma) Ranma's Cooking Craziness

Scene 7: (Ranko/Amazons) Nekohanten Visit

Scene 8: (Ranma/Mousse/Kasumi) Kasumi's Final Story

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 6: Ranma's Cooking Craziness (Kasumi/Ranko/Ranma)

***********

It took about 2 hours for the MixUp to happen and complete itself. One thing to note is that Ranma didn't just gain some some of Ranko's personality traits, she lost a few of her own as well.

***********

She had only stepped out of the room for a minute to check on the washing machine across the hall.

When Kasumi reentered the kitchen, her hand went to her lips as her eyes widened in dismay. "Oh...oh my."

"Is everything alright, Kasumi?" Ranko moaned as she sat in the middle of the floor clutching a large bump on her head. "Ow."

The redhead was soaking wet, probably from the sink behind her. The faucet happened to be missing and a veritable fountain was gushing into the air. A pool of water slowly collected upon the floor.

Ranko finally opened her eyes. "Uhh," she stalled as she took in the crazy scene. "What happened here?" she finally asked.

Several towers of dirty pots and pans chose that moment to fall over, making a horrendous racket in the process.

***********

Later, after cleaning up the mess, the two sat down for a cup of tea.

"So Ranma was here before I arrived, huh?" Ranko asked, steaming slightly from the hot water used to turn him into a guy. He took a look around, "It looks like he's a walking disaster area in the kitchen."

"I wouldn't take it so far," Kasumi commented before she shook her head. "actually, yes I would,"

"Why don't you keep him out of the kitchen? I know you can do that."

Kasumi frowned. "But he seems so eager to learn how to cook," she defended, easily adapting to Ranko's odd pronoun choice.

"Uh, ah. Well, I don't know why he would want to learn to cook now, I did all the cooking after all. Umm, I think he wants to steal you away or something," Ranko said, frantically waving his hands in an attempt to placate his love interest.

"..."

"Kasumi?"

"..."

"..."

"I think I can help him learn," Kasumi finally said, a determined look on her face.

"It's a lost cause," Ranko said with a sigh as he stood up. "But if anyone can do it, I think it would be you, Kasumi. Good luck," he said, as he flashed her a grin and a thumbs up. He turned to leave the kitchen.

"Are you..."

Ranko turned back around to look at Kasumi.

"...Are you worried that you will lose me?"

"..." Ranko was silent for some time.

"Yes," he finally replied, a troubled look appearing on his face.

Kasumi smiled. "Thank you Ran-kun."

The darkness cleared away from his face and the pigtailed boy returned her kind smile with one of his own. Those words had said it all. She was his. He had no need to worry.

***********

A few days later, Kasumi and Ranma were in the kitchen again.

"I'm going to make hot water this time," Ranma told Kasumi as the older girl sat by and supervised.

Kasumi nodded happily before taking a sip of her tea.

The first thing that Ranma did was touch the small iron pot.

A brittle splintering echoed into the air.

Both girls stared at the small crack in the side of the container for a long moment. Kasumi's happiness faded away as a worried feeling replaced it.

Ranma was the first to recover. "This isn't a prob," she said with a sheepish grin as she picked up the pot and placed it beneath the sink before Kasumi could say anything.

When the fountain didn't shoot off, Kasumi let out a breath that she hadn't known that she had been holding.

Ranma suddenly let out a yell when the water from the faucet started rocketing out. In moments the pot was full. Several moments later, the sink was full.

Ranma never gave the water a chance to flow from the sink and onto the floor. Clamping one hand over the nozzle, she managed to divert the water away for that critical moment that she needed to pull the pot out with her other hand. Her actions caused the water to spurt everywhere...but the mess was still within reasonable limits.

Kasumi's eyebrow twitched as she struggled not to think about what she had just witnessed. When that didn't seem to be helping, she silently prayed to Kami-sama for help.

"What was that Kasumi-chan?" Ranma asked, as she turned to the other girl. She had finally managed to turn off the sink.

"Y-You're doing well Ranma-chan," Kasumi said with a weak smile.

Ranma returned the smile before she set the pot onto the stove, water splashing over the edge as it rocked back and forth inside of the super full container. Ranma peered down at the knobs for a moment.

A surge of panic rose up within the eldest Tendo girl. She quickly squelched it down. There shouldn't be a problem, they had always worked nicely for her.

Ranma turned a knob and a bonfire erupted from one of the stove surfaces. The two girls stared wide-eyed at the roaring flame for a second before Ranma mechanically returned the knob back to its original position. The fire disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Ranma slowly turned to Kasumi. "Oops, wrong one," she laughed nervously. She slowly turned back toward the stove control panel and studied its layout for a moment.

Kasumi felt a feeling of despair rise up from within her as she watched her friend bravely reach down toward the knobs again. Her eyes widened. Before she could mention that that was the wrong one, she saw Ranma turn the knob that she was holding.

If Ranma hadn't leapt onto the stove the instant the oven door burst open, she would have become crispified by the the large tongue of fire that suddenly shot out and blackened the floor.

The gout of flame from the oven disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as she let go of the knob and hopped off of the stove. She shut the oven door before turning to her friend.

"I can't find the right knob, Kasumi-chan?" Ranma laughed weakly.

"The leftmost one, Ranma-chan," was Kasumi's equally weak reply.

"Ah!" Ranma happily crowed.

Kasumi watched in apprehension as the pigtailed girl reached for the correct knob. Her beautiful kitchen!

The dial had a smooth edge, Ranma noticed as she firmly grasped the sides and pushed it in. She took a deep breath...

~Splash~

"Huh? Wha?!" Ranko sputtered as he fell backwards in surprise before moving the wet mop of hair out of his eyes and looking around.

Kasumi gaped at the soaked guy in front of her before she looked at the tea cup in her hands. She looked up and gave the boy a weak grin, "H-hello Ran-kun. Today is a beautiful day, isn't it?" she asked, fidgeting with the tea cup.

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 7: Nekohanten Visit (Cologne/Shampoo/Ranma/Ranko)

***********

It's about time for that child's training... Cologne commented thoughtfully before she picked up a phone. She dialed a few numbers and the phone rang once.

Twice.

"Moshi Moshi."

"Kasumi-san?" Cologne spoke into the phone.

"Speaking. Who is this?"

"This is Kuh Lon. Is Ranma there right now, Kasumi-san?"

"Let me see Elder Cologne."

"I'm afraid that Ranma isn't here right now," Kasumi's voice tinnied from the other end a moment later. "But Ranko is currently playing mahjong with father if you wish to speak with him."

"No need," Cologne quickly said. "When he is free, can you tell Ranko-kun to drop by for a visit? I have something for him."

"I'll let Ranko know that you are expecting him. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that is all. Thank you child."

"Glad to help. Take care Elder."

Cologne heard the phone return to its cradle before there was a beep to let her know that the other end had disconnected.

***********

It was a slightly damp Ranko that appeared on the doorstep to the Nekohanten a half an hour later. She was surprised to see a 'closed' sign in the window. Confused, she started to turn and walk away when a shuffling sound caught her attention. She turned around and stared in surpise as the front door eerily slid open without any sort of human help whatsoever.

Several pedestrians suddenly chose that moment to take a circular path around the front of the Nekohanten. Ranko dearly wished she could join them. She slowly stepped into the open entrance.

***********

Ranko's eyes slowly adjusted to the dark dining room. The only light that seemed to be entering seemed to be coming from the front entrance. Using the sunlight as a guide, She walked to a far corner and flipped a switch. The room instantly brightened, Ranko immediately covered her eyes.

"Elder Cologne?" she tentatively called into the silent room.

There was no reply.

When her eyes finally adjusted to the new lighting level, she turned to leave; only to rear back in fright when the front door suddenly slid shut with a slam the instant she took a step in that direction.

"This way, Ranko-kun," a gravely voice said from the back.

Not seeing an alternative, Ranko slowly made her way toward the kitchen.

Pushing the heavy curtain aside, Ranko stepped into the dimly lit kitchen. She missed seeing a shadow detach itself from the wall behind her. However...

"Eh?!"

She noticed when she was suddenly seized from behind. Even with her greater than average strength, she couldn't break free. Looking up, she saw Cologne watching over a large pot. The elderly lady didn't seem to be paying attention to this situation, so that meant whoever was holding her was someone that the Elder trusted.

Her resistance lessened a little as she struggled to figure out who. Then she noticed something large and soft pressing against her shoulders...

"Elder Cologne! What's the meaning of this?!" she cried. "Why are you having Shampoo restrain me?"

"Relax child..." Cologne said as she turned away from the pot after stirring its contents. She hopped over. "That is your meal." she said as she pointed at the bubbling metal container. "It will be ready soon. With good timing, you will be awake by then."

"Huh?" Ranko asked before something powdery flew into her face.

Ranko sneezed after she automatically inhaled the dust. Then she sneezed again before her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

***********

Ranma slowly opened her eyes. She sat up and saw that she was seated at a dining table in the corner of the dining area of the Nekohanten. There seemed to be a cleared area in the center of the floor.

"Your powers of recovery astound me, youngling," someone cackled from behind her.

"What happened?" Ranma asked as she turned to glare at the only one in the room, "old ghoul."

"You fainted," was the matter of fact reply the Amazon matriarch said as she hopped a few steps forward. She struck too quickly. Ranma had no chance to defend herself.

*Bonk*

"Ow!"

"I don't faint," Ranma hotly replied as she clutched the growing robin's egg on her head.

"Very well. You fell over and nearly hit your head...but Shampoo caught you just in time."

"That's even worse,"

"Take it or leave it."

"I don't want neither ya hag!"

~ Thwack! ~

"Ha!" Ranma gloated when the staff struck the tiled floor ground. She had barely managed to dodge it.

"Respect your elders, BOY," Cologne said in an unamused tone of voice as she pulled her staff back.

"Oh god, old age has finally caught up to you," Ranma mocked as she clasped her hands together in silent prayer before thrusting her ample bosom out at the ancient one. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a gir-"

*Bonk*

"Agh! Stop that!" the pigtailed girl shouted as she held her hands protectively over her head.

Cologne merely grinned before she gestured toward the table. "Enjoy, I will be back in a few moments." She climbed onto her staff and swept the heavy red curtains aside before hopping into the kitchen. Bumps were soon heard as she ascended the stairs.

Ranma stared at the steaming bowl of ramen for several seconds. "Alright!" Slurp~

***********

*Bonk!*

"Ow!" Mousse shouted angrily.

"Less talk," Cologne barked as she climbed upon her staff again. The head was smoking, she distantly noted. She was going to need a new staff soon. Because it was becoming increasingly obvious that a single knock wasn't working against these impudent thick-headed youngsters.

"Shampoo agree with Mu Tsu for once. This so embarrassing," Shampoo moaned aloud as pulled the one piece over her head. The headpiece flopped limply down over her eyes. Reaching down, she pulled the zipper from her navel up to her neck. "Is ugly. It too big and so hot too," she complained as she readjusted the hood-like headwear so that it was resting atop her head and not over her eyes.

"Hush child," Cologne said as she held out the last item for Shampoo to take. It jingled merrily when it changed hands.

***********

"Bwah!" Ranma sighed happily as she set down her bowl. She waited for a moment before looking around. Didn't the ghoul say she was coming back?

After a few more moments of waiting, a thought occurred to her. Didn't she finish in less than a minute? Of course that wasn't enough time for many to finish whatever they wanted to do. Still, it wasn't nice to keep your guest waiting.

A distant jingling interrupted her thoughts.

"..." What was the mummy up to?

The jingling continued, it seemed to be coming down the stairs.

Ranma noticed, through the serving window, a large rotund shadow appear against the wall. That was when the heavy drapery hiding the kitchen from the dining area was pushed aside. Ranma froze up when she saw it step out.

She made a whimpering noise but she didn't panic yet. It was too weird to be dangerous. Right? And it was approaching slowly. Didn't seem to be dangerous.

A meter away, Shampoo finally couldn't remain still anymore, she covered the remaining distance in a single hop and glomped the small redhead. The sooner this was done, the faster they could get on with their lives.

"Nekoooooooo!" Ranma shrieked loudly as she somehow broke free and dashed off.

"Ranma! stop!" Shampoo called out in dismay. There was no sign of Ranma stopping however. And, as she watched Ranma continue to run around like a crazy fool, a malicious grin appeared on her face. "Meow," she cutely whispered, low enough so that great grandmother wouldn't hear.

But Ranma was just passing by when Shampoo had meowed. Shampoo's efforts were well rewarded. Instants later, the redhead was letting out a second scream, before she began bouncing off of the walls and ceiling in a blind panic.

It was on her 6th pass when Ranma finally spotted the door. It was her only chance of escaping the cat thing! She dashed right for it, only to come to a screeching halt when a giant gray cat appeared in front of her.

"Meow," Mousse said boredly from beside the door.

Ranma screeched and turned. She had just taken a step when stars filled her vision.

Shampoo sniffed down at the unconscious girl, "Ranma still coward." she said as she idly played with the oversized bell hanging off of the collar of her fat cat suit.

Cologne sighed as she pulled her staff back. She beckoned for her two charges to remove their costumes as she waited for the honored warrior to wake up.

***********

Ranma's eyes slowly opened. She quickly closed them when she saw something awful grinning at her.

"Ugh. Old Ghoul, I had the weirdest dream," she bitterly complained, her eyes tightly shut as shudders wracked her body.

"Did you now?" came the wizened reply. "Well it's time to wake up."

"Huh?" Ranma asked, opening her eyes to see what was going on.

~ Splash ~

Ranko sputtered before wiping his face.

"What happened?!" he asked as he looked around in confusion.

"You should eat more, boy. You fainted at our front door."

"I don't faint," Ranko immediately responded with a tough sounding voice.

Cologne just chuckled. "Your order is ready, that will be 3000 yen please," Cologne replied in a professional tone of voice as she hopped over to the window, pulled a curtain open, and spun a sign around. The restaurant was now open.

"Uhh, okay," Ranko said as he reached for his wallet.

***********

Nabiki was halfway downstairs when the front door opened. She stopped at the foot of the steps to see who was coming in.

"I see you brought dinner," she said a moment later, "let's eat."

Kasumi peeked into the hallway soon afterward. "Welcome back Ran-kun. Did you have a safe journey."

"I don't know," Ranko responded in a tight voice. "There are several bumps on my head that I don't remember receiving. Also, I keep feeling like this giant c-c-c creature is right behind me."

The two Tendo sisters looked behind the boy.

The purple haired girl that had been stalking him immediately straightened up and pretended that she hadn't been tormenting anyone.

Kasumi was the first to speak. "Shampoo, nice to see you today. Oh. That's a pretty bell."

Shampoo grinned happily and rang the large bell that hung around her neck. "Meow," she said.

"Giant C-C creature huh?" Nabiki teased the exceedingly tense boy.

***********

* * *

***********

Scene 8: The Missing Story (Ranma/Mousse/Kasumi)

***********

Ranma gagged. "Agggh! Too sappy!" (1)

She quickly hid her tongue when Mousse reached forward with thumb and forefinger extended.

"Don't worry Ranma-chan," Kasumi quietly said, "Ran-kun was about to reply when Akane stepped out of the house with a cat in her hands. It jumped right onto him."

Kasumi fell silent.

"Kasumi-chan?" Ranma finally said.

The older girl looked at them with a bittersweet expression.

"He came back that night."

**- ~~~~~~~~~~~ -**

_The sky was dark when there was a knock on the main gate._

_Kasumi pulled the door open. "Ranma?" she asked when she saw the busty redhead under the dim lighting._

_The other girl cocked her head. "Ranko actually," she finally replied._

"_Sorry Ran-kun," Kasumi quickly apologized, to which Ranko just smiled and nodded._

_Kasumi found herself returning the smile before a confused look settled on her face. "Please forgive me again," she said. "But why are you here this late at night? Is there a problem? Are you in trouble?" _

_Ranko shook her head no. "I was just visiting, Kasumi."_

"_You seem worried, why?" It was a sign that their relationship had developed to the point that Kasumi was confident enough to push Ranko a little for an answer._

_She didn't receive an immediate reply. But that was okay, she was just curious. "You don't have to answer Ran-kun if you don't want to," Kasumi quietly said with a graceful smile as she beckoned the redhead in. "Please, come in. Father wouldn't mind."_

_Instead of accepting, Ranko turned away to stare at the shadowed form of a nearby bush. "No, no. I'll answer," she said. "I-I keep feeling like this will be the last time that I see you." she mumbled._

_The harsh news flew right over Kasumi's head. "Don't be silly Ran-kun. Father is here, he'll protect us from danger," she optimistically said as she wrapped a protective arm around the smaller girl and pulled her inside of the walls surrounding their home._

_***********_

_After Cologne's harsh news, Ranko mechanically pulled herself out of the furo and went to the nearby sink, uncaring that she had an audience in the room. She quickly dressed herself using the clothing that Kasumi had left out for her._

_She turned to the Tendos. They were quiet. 2 of them were regarding her with pity. One was regarding her with dismay. The last one was regarding her with a neutral look._

"_Thank you for your hospitality," Ranko finally said with a bow before she ushered herself out of the bathroom._

_Minutes later, s__he was at the entrance putting on her chinese slippers. Reaching out to open the door, she heard someone call out, "Ran-kun, wait!"_

"_Kasumi, I have to go," she said without turning around. She felt a hand touch her shoulder._

"_Why?" Kasumi asked in a worried tone of voice._

_Ranko was silent for what seemed an eternity. Pulling Kasumi's hand off of her shoulder, she turned around and got down on one knee, the slightly larger hand clasped tightly in between both of hers. Ranko looked up and said two simple words. "Marry me."_

_Kasumi was shocked speechless. So were the rest of the Tendos that were watching the scene before them from any convenient opening in the hallway._

"_This is so sudden," Kasumi finally said._

_Ranko recognized it for what it was, a stall. "Don't you like me as a girl?" she demanded, emotion lacing her voice._

"_Yes..." Kasumi whispered, scared of the frightening expression on the redhead's face._

_Ranko's face fell. "Then why can't you say yes to marriage if I'm stuck like this?"_

"_I...can't," Was the quiet reply. But they both knew why Kasumi couldn't agree._

_Ranko sighed. "See, I need to become a guy again. For your sake." She turned to leave._

"_Wait," Kasumi quickly said, as she caught the smaller girl's shoulder._

_Ranko reluctantly turned around. "Kasumi."_

"_Please, one night," Kasumi pleaded._

"_Huh?" Ranko asked. She didn't understand._

"_Please, stay tonight." Kasumi said, fear lacing her voice as she pulled the smaller girl into a hug._

"_Kasumi, I can't." Ranko said as she tried to break free._

"_We're both girls right? Please?" The older girl pushed desperately as she tightened her hold, as if half-afraid the girl before her would disappear and never return._

_Ranko sighed, defeated. "I...alright. Fine."_

_***********_

_Kasumi's bedroom was a wondrous place. Clean, spacious, comfortable. It never failed to bring a smile to her face whenever she woke up. What made it better tonight was that Ranko was in the room as well._

"_And then, after picking up __**phone**__she realized that it__ was made from __**foam**__!" Ranko happily said, waving her arms expressively in front of her audience. She was barely able to restrain her laughter before she could finish the joke. (2)_

_Kasumi giggled, the humor from the jovial redhead was contagious. _

_Lacking clean nightclothes of her own, Ranko had borrowed one of Kasumi's nightgowns. It was far too large for her, both sleeves were hanging past her hands and the nightgown touched the floor, however she shuffled around without complaint. _

_Having said her piece, Ranko she sat down next to her friend._

_The two soon found a comfortable arrangement on the large downy bed. After all, they were both girls right now, so it shouldn't be improper._

_Kasumi turned out the lights and both girls closed their eyes and tried to sleep._

"_Ran-kun," Kasumi finally said after a few minutes of silence._

_Ranko opened her eyes. "Yes Kasumi."_

"_When you go, I wish to follow you," Kasumi whispered._

"_It's too dangerous." Ranko said with a shake of her head. "I don't think I'll survive."_

"_Why are you going then?" the older girl quietly said. It wasn't hard to tell that she wasn't happy with what she had just heard._

"_I'm not going to wait for Ranma to show up and help me out of this," came the courageous reply. "I can do it. I'll prove that I can do this. And," she felt around and found Kasumi's hands under the cover. Clasping it in both of her own, she continued, "I promise you, when I become a guy again, we'll get married."_

"_You silly," Kasumi sniffed as she freed her hand grabbed the shorter girl in a tight hug._

_The look of startlement on Ranko's face slowly disappeared as a smile drifted onto her face. "Kasumi?"_

"_Yes?"_

_Your house might not look like a turtle. But I feel like I'm inside of a turtle shell. I feel cozy and protected. The redhead murmured._

_The brunette laughed._

"_If the house is the turtle shell, then father would be the head. Watch out, he bites." She said, growling slightly to emphasize her point. The foreign sound came out rather cute._

_The redhead giggled at that before a thoughtful look appeared on her face. __"I haven't seen a crying turtle before."_

"_Well," Kasumi paused for a moment before her face lit up. "that's because the water in the pond hides a turtle's tears."_

"_Oh! That makes sense!"_

_It was a long night, full of bad jokes, insightful comments, and thoughtful words. When they both finally fell asleep, it was with a smile on their face._

_**- xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx -**_

Ranma had a confused look on her face. "When did this happen?" she asked Kasumi.

"Last month," came the whispered reply.

"Huh? Didn't I wake up next to you that morning?" Ranma wondered. "Wonder how he found me and switched places without me knowing," she said admiringly as she stared into their host's eyes.

There was no reply.

"Kasumi-chan, why are you lookin' at me like that?"

Kasumi's eyes widened before she hid her face. "It's nothing."

When the two showed no signs of moving, Kasumi weakly waved at them. "Please...visit another time."

The two instantly knew that Kasumi felt the need to be alone. "Until next time then," Mousse and Ranma said as they stood up and bowed to Kasumi before they made their way for the door. Kasumi remained at her spot, staring quietly into her now-cold teacup.

***********

* * *

***********

Chapter Preview:

Ranma immediately dived forward, tackling her opponent in the process. "Shampoo! We didn't come here ta fight you!"

"You die still, please?" Shampoo demanded before she grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulder and threw her away. Picking up one of her bonbori, she lunged forward.

There was an explosion.

**Next up: The Shampoo Conundrum**

Jya'n

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* * *

***********

A/N:

_Ranko slept over that night..._

_...he never woke up._

(1) The sappy scene that Ranma is referring to involves Ranko and Kasumi sitting together and talking about the curse. Chapter 3 material.

(2) I was going to use a pun from the manga Mx0, then I realized that I know a ton of similar sounding words myself.

The cat suit that Shampoo and Mousse wore? I was thinking of the one that Nuku Nuku wore in one of the TV episodes when she went spying. Umm, think of Garfield, blown up to human size, and those are the about the right dimensions for the costume (girth, height, stance, etc). Sounded sort of hard to move in, but Nuku Nuku managed to run in it anyway. Anyway, there was a nice elliptical hole in the mouth for the user's face to fit through. No need for silly eyeholes then. Speaking of the eyes, they were cross-eyed hemispheres located on top of the wearer's head. It was the silliest thing that I had ever seen, I want one!

***********

Here's a bit of a clarification:   
In Ranko's mind, Ranma has, and always will be her/his brother. This is important. Let's recap. Before the mixup, Ranko was searching desperately for her brother because she swore that she would always be with him.

After the mixup, this viewpoint changed a little. Ranko is a guy now. But he still thinks Ranma is a guy. Consequently, his mind came up with a crazy idea that went something like this...

Genma took his twin boys on a training trip. However, he decided that one the twins had a name that wasn't manly enough, so he refused to teach Ranko the way of the martial artist. Instead, Ranko was stuck doing chores...blah blah, ala Harry Potter.

The worst part is, Ranma can pull off these supercool martial arts moves while Ranko is pretty much a white belt. So when Ranko is in trouble, it's Ranma that has to come in and save him. That's gotta hurt anyone's pride and ego, especially since they're the same age, related...at least Ranma isn't a girl right? XD

He's bitter and confrontational now, especially towards matters regarding Ranma. It's a pretty Taboo word...

No one has noticed yet. But Kasumi has sensed that he seems to be a bit darker than before. She's confident that she can pull him out of his shell given a little time though.

***********

Another note?

So why doesn't Ranma realize that Ranko is referring to her?

She knows that she doesn't have a sibling named Ranko. So when Ranko talks about Ranma, Ranma fails to make the connection.

It makes sense, but if you think that's too convenient, I have another explanation that you might like.


	8. Chapter Preview

  
  
Hidden Behind the Looking Glass

Preview!

Without any time to write, and no desire to shove out more story ideas since juggling 7 stories is horrible enough, I leave you these to show you that it's not writer's block that prevented this week's (and maybe next week's) update.

If you feel the need to say something, use a PM if you want to say something to me because when the next chapter is out, it will replace this one. For those without PM, my e-mail addy is at the top of my profile. Seriously though, I hope you don't. Saying good things about a PREVIEW seems rather stupid to me.

-o-o-o-o-

"Get offa me Shampoo!" Ranma cried before she froze as Shampoo ground herself into the shorter girl. She immediately shoved the amazon off.

"Thank you for the fight," A dirty and bruised Ranma said as she reached down and held out a hand to the purple haired girl.

"Is good one, yes?" Shampoo asked as she grinned with a split lip. "I still kill you one day."

"Maybe after I die 'o old age," the redhead replied with a cocky grin. "Anyway, since I won, it's your turn to cook."

Shampoo shook her head. "Is winner's turn to cook."

"We agreed that it was the loser that cooked!" Ranma angrily replied.

"You call Shampoo loser?" Shampoo angrily demanded as she picked up a bonbori and prepared to fight again.

"Bring it on," Ranma shot back.

Cologne sighed before turning to the third member who had regained consciousness.

Mousse had a deep foreboding.

It's good to see youngsters getting along these days. It seems like yesterday that we made Ranma an honorary Amazon.

"Do I have to listen to your spiel?"

"You have no choice." Cologne said with a giant grin. "If you wish to return and see Shampoo again, you will not disregard my story as the ramblings of a senile old woman."

-o-o-o-o-

Shampoo and Cologne are already back in China. Quite handy since Ranma can make a stop at the Amazon Village before heading toward Herb's fortress.

But why aren't the Amazons trying to kill Ranma?


End file.
